Finding Alice
by Krimzonrayne
Summary: Love at first sight is simply lustful attraction between two hormone driven people nothing but myth right? So when Ranma chan saved a tall, handsome stranger from being killed, he doesn’t return as the head of a crime syndicate to spirit her away. Right?
1. Easily

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hanageshi (krimzonrayne)

Chapter One; Easily

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there are fly fishes circling my house…

For those you have no knowledge of Haou Airen, relax, you don't need it… this starts from the very first chapter of that and will introduce each and every one of the characters again.

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

Enjoy…

--- TT ---

A girl in a red soaked through Chinese style shirt stumbled down the street. On her back was a huge back pack which looked more like a burlap sack since it practically empty. She was sporting a look of despair and dejection on her face; something that, for any who knew her, was extremely shocking. Her matted bangs, as crimson as her shirt, lacked its usual vibrant air and were pasted against her face instead of sticking out in its usual spiky halo of youthful energy.

"Stupid Happosai, stupid Mr. Tendo, stupid Pop… stupid, stupid, stupid uncute Tomboy." Ranma-chan muttered under her breath.

It had only been a few days since she had received the Weakness Moxibustion point and, as far as she concerned, her life has pretty much took a nose dive and crash landed into hell.

At first things didn't look so bad; Ryoga appeared to be a real friend for a change, saving her from her other rivals like that. Then the Old Ghoul taught her a new technique that didn't involve usage of strength, the Hiryou Shouten Ha or Dragon's Ascension to Heaven Blast. Then she'd gone to face the ancient pervert and that's when, as the American so eloquently out it, the shit hit the fan.

The fight itself, while extremely degrading; having to show pose for those risqué photos, was not that bad. She could, and did, endure it; after all it would've been worth it if she got her strength back. But fiancée…

"Ex-fiancée" Ranma verbally corrected; practically spitting the word out.

Her ex-fiancée had to get in the way and, as always, she had to be saved. But this time the cost has been far more than a simple malleting she received for her 'man handling' of the quick temper girl.

This time it has cost her, her life.

Well, not exactly… but since she valued her Art above all else and would gladly die for its cause, it amounted to the same thing really.

But that wasn't the end of the story… No, the real ending was much, much worse…

Suddenly a man ran into her.

"Ah!" She cried out in surprise.

Although it wasn't exactly a tackle, the impact almost thrown her lightly built frame to the ground. Off balance, the red head couldn't do anything as a strong hand took hold of her hand, pulling her into the alley beside them.

Ranma tried to break away but she couldn't muster enough strength to her a baby much less a full grown man. She opened her mouth to scream but the stranger's other hand found its way over her mouth, stifling her cry for help into soundless mewing noises.

Fear, unknown fear, began to grow in her stomach. She thought she had felt something similar to this when Sanzenin kissed her during their first encounter on the rink.

Ranma began trashing about in the man's grasp. But in her weaken state holding on to her was like holding on to a reluctant kitten; annoying but not difficult.

"Chen Mo!" He hissed in her ear.

The captive girl couldn't speak Chinese but she did spent enough time over there to learn the word 'silence'.

"_Didn't he come this way?"_

A shout came from the main street. It was accompanied by sounds of footsteps, lots of them.

"_Spread out and find him… the bastard will pay for disgracing the Onizuka in our own turf."_

…

After what seemed like an eternity later, the stranger allowed the hand clamped over her mouth to drop but still holding onto her with his other hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" She started speaking; her voice was a pitch higher than it normally would be, although from fear or something else she didn't know.

She whirled around to face the stranger, really seeing him for the first time. He was tall, of course everyone was tall compared to her, but he was taller than most with broad shoulder. Her eyes drifted upward.

Then her heart skipped a beat.

A stray moonlight played across the alley, illuminating the stranger's face for her to see. He was handsome, a perfect blend of astute royalty look with a touch of striking ragged primal feel. On the left side of his face was dragon-shaped birthmark. The mystical beast looked real enough to have been a work of a master tattooist.

Then she saw them.

A pair of translucent blue eyes that mirrors her owns; the twin orbs that spoke of years upon years of suffering and hardship. Starring into them evoked a feeling she'd never felt before.

It was… indescribable.

'Who is this man?' The words echoed softly in the sanctuary of her mind.

Then the moment pasted. As swiftly as before, the fear returned. She futilely tried to jerk her hand away from him.

"Let go of me!" She began to scream, still pulling away in vain as fear overrode her deeply ingrained sense of arrogance. "Anybody please help!"

The man blinked in surprise, partly from the shouting but also from the fact that she spoke in Japanese. He took hold of her shoulder with his free hand, trying to calm her down by speaking her native language.

"Calm down, stop shouting." He commanded quietly but firmly, fixing his cold blue eyes on her. His voice was vibrant and

"No! Let me go!" Still in grip of hysteria, the girl continued wailed and pulled away.

"I said be quiet." The man hissed at her once again. By now his face was only inches away from hers.

"Please don't…"

Please don't what exactly, Ranma never quite finished. Her mouth was filled with another strange new sensation. Her very skin tingled with an unfamiliar anticipation as pleasure explored from her mouth and enveloped her whole being. It was as if all her sensory nodes were concentrated upon her lips, making it an erogenous zone by default. It was as if…

It was as if she was melting…

"…whah?…" She managed to whimper, her cheeks flushed bright red and her heart beat loudly.

"So you're finally ready to listen?" He commented with a breath-takingly charming smile.

His word broke her out of her spell bound stupor. She started to notice where, who, when, how and more importantly, what, just happened.

He kissed her.

A wave of anger and disgust rose within her but then… it stopped.

He kissed her.

An odd mesmerizing blend of confusion and wonderment became pronounce on her face. Why didn't that thought fill her with nausea? Why didn't she go into epileptic shock like she did when Mikado kissed her?

What was this feeling she now felt?

_Thud Thud_

Before she could fully understand what exactly just happened something else occurred. The two hands which were previously holding her came forward once again. They grasp onto the front of her shirt.

With a sudden jerk, they tore her garment apart; ripping off the top three buttons and exposing an indecent amount of cleavage.

Ranma froze; renewed fear paralyzing every tendons and sinews within her curvaceous body.

"If you don't shut up, I'll do a lot more than kiss you, right here right now." He said threateningly; managing the cruel, fear instilling phases without raising his voice above a whisper.

'…….'

Her mind went blank as fear and desire warred inside her.

"Well?" He asked simply.

Startled out of her shocked reverie, the pig tailed girl promptly clamped her hands over her mouth. She didn't want to do THAT, not with some guy right out here!!!

…Wait… 'out here'? Where had that came from? She didn't want to do that, period…

…right?

"Very good." The stranger said with a smile, taking her shocked silence and hands over her mouth as a sign of submission.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps returned.

"_Did you guys found him?"_

"_No, sir…"_

"_Damn it, I was sure he went his this way."_

'They're the men from earlier,' Ranma thought at the sudden realization. 'They're hunting this man…'

**If I call out right now, these guys might help me… if I call out right now, they might kill him…**

Before she could do anything with the thought, she felt three soft delicate fingers took hold of her chin. With the gentle guiding, her face slowly turned; from gazing demurely at the ground, her own soulful blue eyes looked up into his once more.

Intoxicating… there simply was no other word for the way he looked just then.

…

As seconds ticked away, her chance of calling out to the men for help seemed to fade with the softening footsteps. Ranma opened her mouth only to close it again.

_Thud Thud_

His eyes… His cold, cold blue eyes… Oh God…What is this feeling? It's hypnotizing; suffocating her, smothering her…

She couldn't utter a single word. She couldn't even breathe properly.

"_He's not here either, sir"_

"_Let's go back; he must've gone the other way."_

The footsteps were even quieter now, almost inaudible.

**This was it, this was her last chance… if she didn't say anything now…**

"Let stay like this…" He whispered in her ear, gathering her smaller frame into his broad shoulder, embracing her into his comforting warmth.

His words…they weren't a command like before. The tone was different. It was softer, almost like a suggestion between lovers.

**Let stay like this……. Why did that sound so wonderful?**

_Thud Thud_

'His breathe…' Ranma thought. 'They're so warm…'

The pig tailed girl suddenly shook her head, what was she thinking at a time like this?

Suddenly the man collapsed to the ground.

"What wrong?" The pig tailed girl asked worriedly, kneeling down beside him. She touched his shoulder tentatively before snatching her hand back as he hissed in pain. Another flash of stray moonlight washed away the shrouding darkness. The sudden light reflected off something on her palm, drawing her attention to it.

She starred at her hand with abject terror.

It was wet with crimson liquid!

_TO BE CONTINUE_

--- TT ---

Author's note: I have a confession to make, for those who don't know Haou Airen is a shoujo manga…i.e. a girl's romance novel. I found the whole series in my Mum's closet and it has been my shameful secret ever since…

I hoped you guys enjoyed that as much as I did writing it. Reviews are always welcome but you flamers should hold off until at least until chapter 3 or so, because flaming me now won't make me quit… My inspiration is still too fresh and strong!!!

Burn! The roaring flame of youth!

Anyway, C ya next chapter!

Sincerely yours and Tendo Kasumi,

Rayne no Akai Hanageshi

--- TT ---

P.S. If you're wondering about the name, Rayne is my feminine side (As if I had such a thing) I use this pen name when writing Romance.


	2. Mounful

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

Chapter Two; Mournful

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there are purple rabbits in my hat…

"…text…" Normal

"…_text…" _Sound effect or alternate language

"…**Text…" **Thought

--- TT ---

Blood.

The red stuff; it was blood, she was sure of it, his blood…

'Get a grip, Ranma.' She mentally yelled at herself. 'You've gotten worse on the stupid ten years training trip.'

Ignoring the man's gape of surprise at her keeping her composure, Ranma rolled up the man's sleeve and began examining the wound. The wound looked small but there was a lot of blood. The man bit off a cried of pain as she shifted his arm to get a better look at it.

Then she froze upon recalling the type weapons that causes this shape; it was a gun-shot wound. It looked like it was a glancing blow, he was bleeding badly but there's no real need to go to a doctor as no surgery was needed.

Her eyes widened as she recalled what those men were saying.

'…_that bastard will pay for disgracing the Onizuka…' _

This man was being hunted by the Yakuza. This meant he's either indebted to them or he's one himself…

Ranma took another glance at the handsome man in front of her.

But he didn't seem like a crook at all. Maybe he's like her, a martial artist who brushes with the underworld on occasions and happened to get unlucky.

"What are you doing?" The man barked, pulling his injured arm out of her grasp. He glared at the girl who was still starring at him with a look of uncertainty on her face.

"You can go now." He said, dismissing her with a wave of his uninjured hand.

"But what about your wound? You're bleeding pretty badly, you know?" Ranma said with obvious concern.

"What of it?" He replied flatly, still glaring daggers at her. He tried to get up but as soon as he rested his weigh on his injured arm, he was overwhelmed with pain. He was in obvious agony but refused to cry out.

"Arrogant baka," The pig tailed girl muttered under her breathe, not realizing the irony of her statement.

Ranma un-slung her practically empty backpack and placed it down next to them. With her strength sealed away like it was, carrying around a gigantic amount camping gears like she did on the precious trip was impossible. So she had to throw away everything and only keep the bare necessities and one of the things that she did consider important was the first aid kit.

She finally found the small tin with a plus ensign on top. She took off the lid and grabbed the sanitary gauze, bandages and a bottle of alcohol for sterilization.

"Don't move." She said imperatively, pulling the glass cap off the bottle as she did so. She put a liberal amount of the stinging liquid on the wound, eliciting a yelp of pain as the response.

"What are you trying to do, Woman? Kill me?" The man said, latching onto her arm to prevent anymore 'yelp of pain'.

"Don't be such a baby. I have to clean the wound otherwise it would be come infected." Ranma explained patiently. Somehow seeing him like this, looking somewhat angry, was far less intimidating than seeing him with those cold blue eyes.

For an instance, he looked vulnerable… for an instance, he looked like a normal person.

Ranma hadn't realized it, but for a moment meant there the stranger could almost see the hidden smile on her face.

The man released her arm without saying another word.

The pig tailed girl fidgeted nervously, fingering with her dragon's whisker out of habit. She gave a startled 'eep' upon realizing that the man had given his assent and resumed her job of dressing his wound.

She placed sanitary gauze tenderly over the wound and began bandaging the arm, all the while starring fixatedly at the man's well tone muscle.

**What the heck am I doing?**

Ranma looked away, blushing madly. The uncomfortable silence grew until she couldn't stand it anymore.

"What is your name?" She blurted out, trying to take her mind of the memory of his broad shoulder and warm breathe.

"Haku Ron." He said brusquely yet his face held a disarming smile that sent pleasant tingling sensation down her spine.

"M… my name is Ranma..." She stuttered, her blush worsen to the point that she, with her bright red hair, resembled a tomato.

"Just Ranma?" The man said questioningly. At first he thought nothing of it, after all a majority of people aren't accustume to giving out full name to a stranger, fearing that he/she could somehow stalk them.

But then he took in her appearance.

She was young, far too young to be walking alone at a place like this and especially at a time like this. Her ragged clothing was a few sizes too big and looked like it belong to someone else. She wasn't even wearing a bra.

This girl… could she have been abandoned?

"Yes, just Ranma." The girl confirmed; her voice seemed to have a steely edge to it. The man blinked at that, and then he realized the source of the girl's ire wasn't him.

That looks on her face… could she be?

"Where are your parents, Ranma?" He asked calmly, coldly even.

"I don't have any…" The red head said evasively, still gazing downward. She looked up and saw him looming over her and the small fear returned. He had those same chilling glints in his eyes.

"Where are your parents?" Hakuron repeated, somehow managing to be more threatening without raising his voice.

Suddenly, Ranma became very much aware of his hand which was holding onto her.

"I said I don't have any… now, let me go!" The weakened girl shouted, trying to pry his fingers that were wrapped around her wrist off. She was too weak even manage that.

The fear grew and grew. And now she was becoming aware of the lack of three buttons on her shirt, the desolate state of that alley and exactly how weak she was.

She was helpless.

"Why are you doing this?" Ranma whispered as translucent tears were beginning to gather in her blue eyes. "Please let me go..." She pleaded with him one more time, but the grip was still as firm as ever.

"Tell me."

And so she did.

She told him.

She told him how she used to be an heir to a style of martial art. How she used to be engage to a boy. How she received the Weakness Moxibustion from the perverted grandmaster. How she came so close to getting the cure. How she gave it all up to save her ex-fiancée and finally, how she was rewarded for her sacrifice.

She told him how she was betrayed.

It wasn't easy, making a decision like that. She knew things, a lot of things, would change forever when she gave up the cure but…

She'd hoped, no… wished. Wished that the bonds between them would remain but deep down she knew it was a fool's wish.

After all, who'd love a weak, no good person like her?

Even then, couldn't they at least pretend they cared? Couldn't they at least waited a little longer before discarding her like that?

Alas, they couldn't.

It hadn't bent days, much less weeks, before Genma threw her out and opted to name Ryouga as the 'true' heir.

The lost boy put up a weak protest at first but the prospect of being engaged to Akane quickly won him over. Now, if she ever goes back, she will have Ryouga as an honorary brother.

Why did she left? Well, Kasumi, blessed her soul, has offered to let her stay and she would have taken her up on that offer too, had Nabiki not made it quick clear what 'helping out' entails.

She may have lost the Art but she wasn't about to sell her pride so readily.

…

It was a long while later when she finally finished her tale. She was a mess, crying wrecks of teenage hormones and psychological tragedy by the end of it. She didn't know when Hakuron gathered her into his warm embrace but she was glad he did.

She was glad she wasn't alone when this happened.

The tears… the tears she'd bent holding back for a long time now. The pains, years upon years of pains, of neglects, of abuse…of betrayal; they were all breaking through the mask of faux cheerfulness and optimism she'd built for herself.

And it hurts.

"Shush… it's alright…" The man whispered soothingly in her ear, holding her close. Her petite body was shaking softly and was close enough to feel every tremors of heartache she was going through.

After a while, Ranma began to regain her composure and started noticing her surrounding once more. She began blushing in embarrassment and self-impose sense of infamy.

What am I doing? I'm Ranma Saotome, the man amongst man damn it! I don't go crying into some boy's arms.

**But she wasn't a Saotome, was she? Didn't Genma say a weakling like you is no son of mine?**

…

Unknown to the girl internal dilemma of shame and gender confusion, Hakuron took hold of her and kissed her soundly on the lips once again.

Ranma froze.

Her first urge was to kill the man; after all there was no need for him to shut her up by kissing her like before.

But she never did it.

She just froze, shocked still and turned completely white.

"What's wrong?" The man pulled back and asked, noticing the girl palely white cheeks and her blank eyes. Receiving no response, he hazarded a guess. "That was your first time?"

Ranma didn't answer.

Was that her first time? Mikado stole her first kiss but does that ever eager slobbering count as a kiss? When Hakuron kissed her, it felt nothing like the lecherous ice-skater. It felt good, like nothing else she'd ever felt before.

Was that what a real kiss felt like?

She looked up from the ground, not noticing how often she had been doing that lately. She opened her mouth but didn't say anything. Looking up at Hakuron, who was sitting there under the moonlight; a face of many contradiction, forceful but gentle, cold yet warm…

She couldn't think of anything to say.

The man took her silence as a no and placed his hand onto her cheek once more. He leant closer and closer until their faces were a hair breadth apart.

"I'll teach you."

And so he did.

It was… magical. There simply was no other word for it. The feeling of rapture… it was like having multiple fireworks going off in her head. It was pure bliss… like eating chocolate as a girl but a million times better.

It was nothing short of heaven.

So caught up in a world of new feelings, Ranma hadn't notice a small capsule that slipped into her mouth.

Then everything became hazy, like falling asleep in the bath after long hours of worth of exercise.

The last thing she saw was his smile.

--- TT ---

Author's note: Oh my god, what have I done to Ranma-chan?!?! Read the rating people, T not M, nothing happens… geesh, you readers always think the worse about the author…

Of course… rating can be change… Muah ha ha

Oh, just in case you haven't notice by now, I'm trying to update this fic everyday. Now Materia Blade-sempai thinks I can't keep it up… I'll try as long as I can, if I can't I'll do it every two days.

Of course, that's baring anything like 12 hours flights or going to places where there's no internet connection…

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. In any case, Review are, as always, welcome. And flamers… it's only one more chapter before you can flame so… Just be patient, okay?

See ya tomorrow,

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

--- TT ---

P.S. just in case you haven't realized… posting this every day means I can't have a pre-reader… meaning grammars and vocabulary will suffer… I try to spot them myself but English is not my first language…


	3. Diffident

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

Chapter Three; Diffident

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there are girls used panties for sell from me, especially not on discounted price…

"…text…" Normal

"…_text…" _Sound effect or alternate language

"…**Text…" **Thought, or something I wanna point out

--- TT ---

Ranma woke up. She felt somewhat groggily but at the same time, oddly refreshed, a feeling she had not the dandiest idea when she'd last felt.

She sat up on her bed and looked around, no Hakuron anywhere.

"Was it all a dream?" She mumbled thoughtfully to herself. "That's relieve, for a moment there I was afraid that something had happened…"

**Was that a hint of disappointment? **

The pig tailed girl placed a finger on her lips. It had felt so real. The memories… the memories of his hot breathes on her skin… the taste of his lips… the primal desire his touch awoken inside of her…

They were so real…

Ranma sighed, again, not sure whether in relieve or in regret.

She let herself fell back onto the soft, comfy bed, not feeling up to leaving it and facing another day of her harsh life. One that's full of disappointing realities and equally disappointing dreams.

Then she realized she was on a bed.

A bed? But that couldn't be. For the last three weeks that had grown accustomed to sleeping on rough terrains; terrains like park benches and patches of grass under bridges, just to name a few.

With that revelation, she began searching through her muddled memory of last night more thoroughly. The accidental run-in, the forced kiss and sudden intimacy, her emotional breakdown… each article brought back a certain distracting reaction from within her. But she quickly brushed them aside for the moment, this was more important.

Then she remembered it.

The capsule.

That odd sensation she felt while kissing him; the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.

He drugged her.

He dragged her into a secluded alley, kissed her, ripped open the front her shirt and kissed her again.

Then he drugged her.

Her arms slowly, mechanically fell to her sides. Her head turned slowly, taking in her surrounding once more with a growing sense of dread. The room she was in was provocatively decorated; the garish pink drapes, the similarly colorful wallpapers and the round bed with shell-fish design, the one she was sitting on…

The one she had been sleeping on…

Ranma petite frame began to shake softly.

She remembered Genma mentioning something about this type of hotel in passing before with Soun while they were drunk off their rocker. She was exactly paying attention to their reminiscing of 'the old days' but if she recalled correctly, they said something along the line of…

Ranma stopped

**Oh god…**

**No…**

The red head languidly lowered her head, her right hand moved jerkily, taking hold of the duvet covering her and slowly pulled it to the side…

…unveiling her naked body…

Ranma stared fixedly down her naval; her fingers were trembling so much that she could no longer hold onto the bed's wear. It fell from her grasp and down the side of the bed, it weight dragged the rest down, revealing her porcelain skin to be seen in its entirety.

She stood up and left the exotic bed, walking toward the bathroom with an air of doll-like stoicism. She looked into the mirror and took in the image.

It was a girl in that mirror, not a boy, a red headed girl.

She has feminine, high cheek bones that seemed more pronounce with the lack of food she had been suffering. Her already pallor skin seemed to have became even paler through her weeks of malnutrition. The contrast between this and her bright red hair was almost shocking, making her looked impossibly white.

Ranma lifted her hand and waved it.

The girl in the mirror waved back.

Her hand… they looked the same, petite and frail-looking. She supposed she could pretend like nothing had happened but she knew the truth. Before they were strong, visually unnoticeable but the strength was there. Like a steel covered with velvet, it was soft to touch but, at the same time, unyielding. But things have changed.

The girl in the mirror appeared to be fragile and weak, and she was exactly that… fragile and weak.

Just like her.

**Of course… that wasn't the only thing that has changed is it?**

Ranma slowly dropped to her knees, her eyes starring blankly at nothingness. Like before; on the outside she may looked the same, on the outside she could go on pretending like nothing has happened, but she knew… deep down… she knew, that she had lost something important to her last night, something that she would never get back…

It wasn't her innocent… at least not in that context anyway. Living on the street as a feeble, powerless girl has thought her a lot about life. She was no longer the naïve martial art oriented fool the old Saotome was.

She has been disillusioned.

Not all of her Art had been lost with the Weakness Moxibustion, she still has all her skills and all her agility; she just lacked the strength. But strength was the big one. If she'd lost either her skill or her agility, she could still bulled her way through many dangerous situation she was in but strength… strength was different. Strength was necessary. Without strength, it took all her skills, agility and her primordial need to survive to live through that.

But it was all for nothing…

All her daring escape, all her skilled evasions, all the time spent dying for air hiding in canals to protect that last inch of herself.

An inch.

She had lost everything else but she still had it. It was small and it was fragile and it sells for so little, but it was all she has left; the only thing in the world worth having. The one thing she vowed she'd never give away, or let it be taken from her.

And it was gone.

Forever.

Ranma, not the invincible martial artist but Ranma, the person, the broken, abused shell of something that was once a human, was crying

Her minute arms wrapped themselves around her curvaceous frame, as if to hold together those fragmented pieces of herself that were falling apart.

She wept.

Her legs drew closer and her body curled into fetal position, as if to fed some warmth into her cold, unfeeling extremities; as if to stop the trembling of her numbed body.

She wept.

**Nothing, there was nothing left. **

…

Time passed, seconds, minutes or hours, she didn't know, it no longer held any meaning for her. She wasn't feeling any better but she was all wept out. She physically couldn't cry anymore, her throat was sore to the point where she couldn't manage anything above a whisper and her eyes seemed to have run out of tears.

The pig tailed girl stood up, still trembling slightly. She made her way into the shower and turned it on.

The water was freezing.

She sluggedly lifted her hand to change the temperature but there was something written beside the dial. She leant closer and found that it was, squiggled with water-proof felts, a notice to the 'hotel's' guests.

HOT WATER: OUT OF ORDER

She felt like laughing… or crying… or both.

Ranma collapsed to the floor... she wasn't quite so wept out after all.

Then, amidst her cacophony of joyless laughter and anguish wails, she heard a knock on the door. Not knowing what to do anymore, she went to open it.

There was a man standing on the other side. He was wearing a black suit and dark-glasses and so were the half a dozen more who stood behind him out in the corridor.

"Miss Ranma?" The man asked, he may have averted his eyes under that shades but otherwise he showed no sign of surprise at her nudity.

"Yes…" Ranma said emotionlessly. So what if they saw her naked, it's not like she was worth anything anymore.

"Please put on some cloth and come with us." He stated, his Japanese was atrocious but understandable.

**Should she try to resist? Would it matter if she did?**

The expressionless girl turned around and searched for her cloth. She found them on the chairs by the bed; it was as if they were hung out to dry. The thought didn't register and Ranma promptly put her attire on before leaving with the men.

She paused by the door and bent down to pick up her pack. She stayed in her crouch a moment, as if considering something, before pulling out the ceremonial Tanto and left the rest where they were.

They led her to a car, a black limousine to be precise. She didn't care much for auto-mobiles but a house with expensive car often threw out the most untouched food. That was one of the thing she learned earlier on.

The ride was short and uneventful. Afterward she followed the man into an air-strip. She briefly wondered about the Tanto that was tucked into her pants but no one had so much as to talk to her much less searched her. They soon came aboard an air craft. It was painted white with a single black dragon emblazoned across its length.

She was told to go into the main lounge which she did so unquestioningly. It was rather large and opulently decorated.

Then her eyes came to rest upon the only occupant of the huge living area beside herself.

"Ha… Hakuron?" Ranma stuttered, the shock of seeing him again, here, broke through the tainted version of the Soul of Ice she had developed to prevent eventual suicide.

"We meet again, Ranma" The man said with a smiled.

An amalgamation of emotions overrode her thought processor and sense of logic. Anger of betrayal, pain of disappointment, fear of uncertainty, elation of false hope and longing of wishful dream, all of this washed over her like the cascading November's rain.

Her world just wouldn't stop spinning.

Ranma dropped lifelessly into the sofa opposite to him. She looked at him diffidently. What should she do? What should she say? A part of her wanted to throttle him for taking advantage of her like that but a part of her wanted to throttle him for a whole different reason.

A part of her felt like she wouldn't have resisted if she had been awake.

**A part of her felt a sudden desire welled up every times she looked at him.**

Ranma swooned, the mass of conflicting emotions finally gotten to her. That and hours worth of psychological roller coaster and depression.

A flash of concern crossed Hakuron's face and he was beside her in an instance. His visage was that of an archangel, warm, kind and caring. She could almost forgive him for taking away her purity. After all, it was meant to be given to the one you love right?

**Wait… what on Earth am I thinking?**

"Please rest Ranma. No doubt it has been a very taxing day for you; I'll wake you up when we get to Hong Kong." The man said, kissing her on her forehead softly.

Ranma blushed.

Hours of tension began ebbing away like sore muscles in a hot bath, leaving her feeling fixated and strangely sleepy.

'Mou, he did it again.' The girl thought, annoyed at how easily he put her to sleep, drug or no drug.

Hakuron smiled at the glint of indignation in the girl's eyes, oh god she's so cute like that.

The plane banked slowly, bringing night time Tokyo into full view. The sight of millions upon millions of light entranced the wearied girl. Watching the world she knew slowly faded away, a thought came into her mind.

**When will I ever see Japan again?**

--- TT ---

Author's note: Oh Ranma-chan you got it all wrong! Nothing happened… oh why am I so mean to her… could it be my crappy love life is being cruelly imparted upon Ranma's?

Hey don't look at me like that!

Alas, I put out another chapter. There has been a few hours delay on this one because I was an idiot. My family and I went to donate some stuff to the dead today and, in a flash of inspiration, I thought… hey I can still update today! I can just bring my trusty laptop along and type on the way.

Of course, even if I finished it I can't actually post it due to the lack of internet connection! That was pretty silly of me, huh?

Anyway you guys should be happy I actually did finished it you know… so like, don't complain about that and stuff…

…

Anyway, it's chapter three… the barrier I put up against the flamer has officially gone down. You can now flame if you want. YES, YOU HERE THAT YOU MEANIES!?!?!

…

Right…

As always, reviews are welcome…oh yeah, we have a forum for Finding Alice now… I don't know how to find it...

Anyway hope you enjoyed that, and YES this is a romance fic… the angst will goes away I promise

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi (krimzonrayne's feminine personae)

--- TT ---

P.S. you will review won't you?


	4. Midnight

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

Chapter Four: Midnight

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there are dancing tomatoes on my plate… too bad really, although dancing sausages are different story entirely…

"…text…" Normal

"…_text…" _Sound effect or alternate language

"…**Text…" **Thought or something I wanna point out

…melancholy… a sad melody you love to hate; I don't want it but would I still be me without it? I won't give up but ... please give me sometime… Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

--- TT ---

It was darker now. Yet, the panorama below held the same visage of millions firefly that she saw in Tokyo.

But it wasn't Tokyo.

The maelstrom of towering skyscrapers were like a thousand shining hands reaching upward yet there were patches of darkness amongst these dazzling lights, they weren't nearly as visible as the immense buildings around them but they were there non the less, and Ranma knew what they were.

Slums…

To Ranma, Hong Kong's architecture held an ironic undertone that fills her with melancholy every times she thought about it. On one hand you have the rich and the powerful, living a life of luxury in exclusive apartment, on other you have the poor, living… no, struggles to remain alive, day after day in the crowd street.

Yet, it was the rich that were dying.

Yet it was the rich that were in constant turmoil… always struggling against one another… always desiring more regardless of how much easier they already had it…

So maybe it seemed oddly fitting that they live in such high towers… to her, it was them, and not the poor, that needed saving.

They were the true hands that reaches skyward in vain hope of savior.

It was them that needed salvation.

"Welcome to Hong Kong…" A rather husky voice said from behind her, pulling her away from the introspective line of thought.

Although it wasn't necessary, Ranma turned around to see who it was.

Hakuron… the man, the paradox.

Paradox…you know, Nabiki had once used the exact same word to describe her. When Ranma asked her what it means; the short hair girl simply laughed, saying it was a lot like love and that she should look it up for herself.

It's kind of funny really; she couldn't remember a lot of things, especially unambiguous thing like that.

She guessed it because she learned it herself.

Whatever the reason might be, she remembered it.

Paradox, and apparent contradiction, that's what the dictionary said, impossibility… the end of logic… something that simply didn't make sense.

The perfect word to describe her Hakuron.

**Her Hakuron?**

Ranma looked away; her cheek began reddening as she realized she'd been starring at the man for a long while now.

The man smiled at her knowingly, it seemed he had that affect on a lot of women and was quite used to it. That was somewhat arrogant of him but, for some obscure reason, she couldn't help but felt like it suited him.

Like he reveled on the image of the handsome prince, the type of man that swept girls off their feet with a flick of his hand.

Ranma turned away; she couldn't believe she was starring at him… again! It hadn't been a minute since she looked away, what is wrong with her?

A soft chuckle of amusement rang out from behind her, making her blush worsen by ten folds.

**Damn it!**

Fixing her gaze on some distant building, she began thinking about the seemingly haphazard turns her life had been taking lately.

She knew she should be angry… no, furious… furious at Hakuron for taking advantage of her and left her. But she couldn't even muster an ounce of animosity toward the man and when she looked at him…

…when she looked at him, it was all she could do to stop swooning.

'But that doesn't even make sense!' Ranma thought angrily. 'There's no reason what so ever of why I should even like the guy… or any guy for that matter!'

Yet… every time she thought about him… every time the very image of him appeared in her mind…

Her heart ached.

"Ranma."

The pig tailed girl turned around. Hakuron was standing beside the door which was now opened. Ranma stood up and walked over to him, feeling somewhat disorientated. She thought she should act coldly toward him; after all, he deserved it for putting her through all that.

But…

"Shall we?" He said questioning, offering her a hand.

The red head looked at him and then at the escalating platform which were slowly being rolled toward them. It was still some distance away yet. She turned back at him and opened her mouth to ask what he meant.

A mischievous glint…

That was the only thing she saw flashing across his eyes. It was her only warning.

"Eekk!" Ranma shrieked in surprise as Hakuron suddenly picked her up, bridal style, and leapt the four meter gap separating them and the ramp.

She managed not to scream out anymore as they descended down the walkway at a rapid rate, Hakuron taking three or four steps at a time. Of course, that didn't mean she could've kept from showing on her face.

It was exhilarating.

While nothing like the roof-hopping she remembered doing in her distant past, the experience still excited her in many differing ways…

…and one of them was the feeling of being held in Hakuron's strong, protective arms…

_Thud Thud _

Ranma's face was doing a fairly good imitation of a setting sun.

Hakuron looked down at the blushing red-head cradled comfortably in his arms and smiled; it was a lovely sight, one that he would be getting used to seeing before too long.

**Mine…**

The pig tailed girl blushed even harder, looking away. His eyes… they were so possessive… so full of desire… of hunger…

It awoke something inside of her, something she wasn't prepared to deal with…

…yet…

Hakuron let her down, to which she promptly thanked him with a glared. How could the stupid jerk pick her up like that?

"Easily; you so light, I could probably run around with you in my arms all day" The Chinese man declared rather smoothly.

**Did she say that out loud? **

Ranma had the decency to blushed even more, if that was some how possible, before looking away.

The man just smiled winsomely and led her into another black limousine that was waiting.

"_Welcome back to Hong Kong, Mr. Ryou-Oh. Where do you want to go this time?_" The driver called out to Hakuron; he was speaking in Chinese, too fast for her to make out the words.

"_To my mansion in Victoria's Peak_." was the handsome Chinese's reply.

The subsequence ride had been a blur. She tried to remain haughty, to make Hakuron feel somewhat sorry for doing that to her, she guessed. But it hadn't work.

Her cool composure melted the moment he even so much as to look her way. Even the smallest glance sent shivers down her spine. In wasn't long before she had given up on it and just stared out the window.

Hong Kong was… lively.

Like Shibuya in the nighttime, thousand of faces flew by her window. The streets were bustling with pedestrians of every ethnicity, merchant with wheeled-carts and just about everything else you could imagine.

Ranma gaped. She stared, she boggled, she blinked, she gawked and she gawped. And she did it all over again, letting her earlier tension washed away by the simple joy of sight-seeing.

She went to Hong Kong before but she had never actually been there… not really.

That trip, apart from evading Shampoo, the Chinese city had been nothing but one big bore. The martial art orient mind-set that was firmly in place prevented her from taking any real interest in all the foreign and exotic things around her. Her best memory of that trip was a particular kung fu school that taught pressure-point based style of Tai Chi Chuan. Compared to that trip, this little drive around had her seeing a lot more of Hong Kong than she ever thought possible.

The luxury car slowed to a stop next to a particularly affluent mansion.

The inside was even more opulent.

And more lavished still were his actually resident.

With each step she took, Ranma became more and more convinced that this was just a crazy dream. Her real self was probably lying somewhere in a desolated junkyard, starving to death.

Then she saw the view.

Ranma always thought of herself and a rather prosaic person. She could never understand Nabiki's needs for sumptuary or Akane's constant demand for romanticism. To put it simply, passion was never in her blood.

At least, she never thought so.

…

"This has to be a dream…" The girl whispered, spellbound by the magnificent sight before her.

**Hakuron, he must be some sort of a prosperous businessman.**

She turned around and looked at the said person. He was watching her with an unreadable expression. He looked every bit like a royalty, from his regal clothes, his posture and his distinguish face.

**He's in a world so far away from my own.**

**A person I could never be with.**

Before she realized it, he was right in front of her. He must have approached while she was deep in her thoughts.

"H… Hey, w... wait what are you doing?" Ranma stammered as Hakuron suddenly grab onto her shirt.

"I have decided to undress you." He said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, before started working on undressing her.

"Wa… wait, why?" The red head protested weakly, trying to stop him from undoing anymore buttons.

"…" Hakuron didn't answer her. He undid the last button and slipped thee shirt off, leaving her in all her naked glory.

"Hakuron…" Ranma pleaded. She instantly turned crimson, holding her in front of her breast to provide some form of cover. It was rather pointless because for him to pull her shirt down, he must be standing very close to her, which he was.

The embarrassed girl looked up, feeling his eyes roaming over her bare contours. Suddenly, a thought came into her mind.

**Why should I feel this way? After all, hadn't he done a lot more than this already?**

Hakuron took a step back, making Ranma felt confused. He walked over to where he was sitting before and returned with a dress.

"Wear this, we're going to a party." He said, handing her the expensive-looking garment.

**Dress? A party?**

Ranma compliantly lifted her arms up and allowed him to put the elegant outfit on her. Wearing a feminine and provocative dress like this one still irked her a little bit but it was a lot easier to deal with than what she was expecting with him pulling her cloth off like that.

"It's silk, it'll look very good on your white skin." He said, taking her silent as her wondering about the dress.

The pig tailed girl didn't attest him, she thought she wore silk clothing before but this material felt impossibly smooth against her skin.

"Tonight…" He began, leaning even closer than before.

_Thud Thud_

"Tonight with the magic that I wield..." He whispered in her ear, his hands slipped down to her waist and undo her string-draw black pants. It fell away as easily as her shirt.

_Thud Thud_

"…I'll make you the Cinderella of Hong Kong."

**Me? A Cinderella? **

Ranma looked into Hakuron's deep blue eyes.

**It only a dream isn't it? Then what's wrong with just enjoying it? Tonight, just one night, I'll be Hakuron's Cinderella.**

The red headed girl glanced at the old style clock by the wall behind them. It was nine o'clock; three hours until midnight.

**For three hours, Hakuron, for three hours, I'll be your Cinderella.**

She smiled

--- TT ---

Author's note: This actually wasn't going to be written to day. I'll explain.

This morning, an in experience writer posted a note as a story, saying that he's quitting because of the harsh review he received. He said not naming any name

…then he put my name in a bracket next to it.

Obviously, I was quite shocked. I mean, I honestly thought what I gave him was a constructive criticism and a rather light one at that.

But he quits. And he blames me for it, in this way.

For hours, I was quite over-whelmed with melancholy, after all, won't you be if someone says they're quitting because of you? Because of something you wrote in good will?

Then I realized something, with the help of my good friends, A Radical Dreamer, Vex the Warlord and JSB…

I was being just like the poor sod…

I was being a thin-skinned weak, whining, EMO-like ingénue.

So I re-attack this with vigor of love-starved fan girl in a room with her idol and completed this.

Anyway sorry about the rant, but it's really cathartic, more so than punching concrete walls and skinning your knuckles or breaking the calluses. I hope you enjoyed it.

Review please… and you flamers too, I'm actually beginning to want flamers now… it's scaring me out but… yeah, I actually don't mind you guys anymore.

See ya tomorrow!

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi.

--- TT ---

P.S. Oho ho ho, no one noticed me stealing idea from my favorite movie, V for Vendetta, in the last chapter…


	5. Vindicated

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

Chapter Five: Vindicated

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there's a disturbing pervert living behind this mask of evidently romantic girl who enjoy writing saccharine fan's fictions… honest!

"…text…" Normal

"…_text…" _Sound effect or alternate language

"…**Text…" **Thought or something I want to point out

--- TT ---

She was pretty.

Of course, she always knew that; and not just subconsciously either, she was rather proud of it, to the point of being quite conceited even.

After all, if you got it flaunt it right? Nothing wrong with faking a pout to get that extra scoop of ice-cream is there?

Of course not, there never was; Genma wasn't about to point out something wrong about the way his child was picking up extra food, less room in her stomach means more food for him right?

Akane was always bugging her for it; saying 'disgraceful' this, 'shameless' that but who cares about her jealous hissy fit? Whose false was it that she's an un-cute tomboy that no one wanted to give more sweet to?

Beside, it wasn't anything more than a harmless little game right?

Wrong.

Ranma still remembered vividly the first night she was expose to that vulnerability girl has over boy.

It started so innocently; one pointless little flirt, some change for the train ticket she'd lost and a free sundae… that where it should've ended. Then he asked if she had enough time for a quick dinner at his place. After all, a measly sundae like that couldn't possibly fill a vivacious girl like her up.

It seemed harmless enough, these rich type are all the same right? When Kuno took her on the date, it was all she could eat buffet, a walk in the park then a Haiku recital. She was starving for days, what has she got to lost?

So she said yes.

It wasn't a Haiku recital the man wanted and Ranma learned precisely what she got to lose…

After that she regarded her beauty in a different light. It had become nothing more than a nuisance, a curse even. Living on the street, clean water was scarce enough let alone hot water and she was forced to spend the majority of her time as a girl. At first it bothered her to no end but after a while…

…after a while she simply stopped caring, probably because she was too busy trying to survive.

Pausing in her reminiscence thoughts, Ranma began focusing on the image in the mirror once more.

Her pig tail was unfastened and brush until it shined in a brilliant shade of red. She was also wearing make up, not enough to be noticeable but just enough to enhance her natural beauty. A little foundation made her white hue skin seemed healthier and a touch of eye liner brought attention to her striking blue eyes. And a coat of lipstick as a finishing touches.

Then Hakuron handed her the accessories, expensive ones. Dragon delineated hair pin, clips on earrings and necklace, all of which were made of gold. The end result was stunning.

She was even more radiant than she had ever been in her entire life.

**Does she really want to do this?**

"Beautiful…" Hakuron said breathlessly from behind her.

The red headed girl blushed deeply at his complement. Why did he say that? After all, wasn't he the one who put all the make ups and the accessories on?

Why was he making me blush like this?

Ranma blinked as Hakuron suddenly stepped forward and took hold of her hand. He leant forward and kissed it gently, making her blush worsen still.

"My Cinderella." He said quietly. It was barely more than a whisper but with only two of them in the room, the only other source of noise was her loudly beating heard.

_Thud Thud_

"Shall we go?" He asked courteously, looking every bit like the gentleman Ranma took him to be. A vindictive part of her reminded that Hakuron was the one who took advantage of her while she was sleep; that he wasn't a gentleman at all.

Ranma spared a glance at the clock. It was a quarter passed nine.

'It's not midnight yet,' She imprinted the thought firmly into her mind.

**She still had some time**.

…

"We're here." Hakuron said from beside her.

Ranma blinked and looked around. They were already there? She was so lost in her thought that it had felt like she'd just got into the car. She took his arm without thinking twice and allowed him to help her get up.

Her feet took to the extravagance red carpet as she was led pass a pair of massive oak doors into a brightly lidded foyer. Chandeliers, crystal ones that sparkled with luminous light, decorated the magnificent vestibule; giving it an air of lavishness that was simply out of this world.

It took all of her effort to stop herself from gawking at everything.

Seconds after they've walked in, a silence hush seemed to have come over the spacious room. Ranma, who was feeling rather nervous by now, could make out the quiet murmurs that seemed to have spread across the party.

Hakuron, they were all whispering his name, talking about him.

Seeing that he had acquired everyone's attention, the tall Chinese cleared his throat once before announcing in a loud clear voice.

"_Everyone… I've invited you all to gather here today to throw a party in the honor of Miss Ranma here_," Here Hakuron placed an arm around her shoulder in a possessive manner. "_She saved my life while I was in Japan_."

Everyone started clapping politely. Ranma cheeks flushed as all the eyes in the room turned to her. She hadn't quite caught every he said but she did hear her name mentioned in there.

"_Do take the time to get to know her, won't you?"_ Hakuron continued after the applauses have died down. _"After all, she's my woman now."_

With that, she and Hakuron began partying in earnest.

And what a party it was.

While it was true that she could speak Chinese, it was no big lost. She was never one for socializing anyway. She found small talks and gossiping to be great sleep-inducing exercises.

But talking was only a small part of a party. It not like she couldn't enjoy the other things.

Especially the food…

Ranma spared the tables upon tables which were filled with food of every imaginable taste and cravings one glance before she started salivating. The red head dove in and attacked the feast with gusto of a starving wolf.

A cough turned her attention back to the man she left standing some small distance away.

She looked absolutely comical with a chicken wing in her mouth and half dozen more drumsticks behind her fingers. Luckily for her, Hakuron also found the sight to be quite amusing.

She blushed at his chuckle but resumed eating none the less. Although; she did have the decency to do it at a slowly pace; something of a suitable penance if you ask the girl.

The rest of the evening continued in the same wonderful pace it has begun with.

The red head felt some animosity being directed her way from many of the women in the room. It took her a couple of minute to realize that this wasn't the same death glares she was accustomed to in Nerima. Those one usually came with a mallet or cries of 'how could you keep flirting with those hussy'. These one were different.

These ones were glares of jealousy.

'There were jealous of her.' Ranma thought with trepidation. 'These beautiful and glamorous women were jealous of her.'

The thought made her a little giddy. Living on the street for almost a month had pretty destroy her confident and shredded apart every stitch of self-esteem she ever had in her body. She had been lower than garbage, treated worse than house pets and came close to dying more than one occasion. And for someone like them to be jealous of her, it was as enlivening as it was preposterous.

**If only this dream never end**.

Ranma sighed before looking around for Hakuron; she'd really like to thank him one last time before she wakes up.

She spotted him leaving with another man, one of those men who wear black suits and shades. The girl walked after them, her vivid crimson locks flowing freely over her shoulders. It was hard to run in the long length dress such as this one and so she had to content with walking.

She ignored the whispering from all around her, knowing that she couldn't understand them. Beside, she didn't think she wanted to hear what they were saying about her anyhow.

She followed them into the corridor, not exactly trying to spy on them but the elegant dress she was wearing prevented her from catching up to them.

Eventually they stopped and started whispering to each other. Ranma smiled and was about to walk around the corner and meet up with them.

"…_if they were the ones who tipped off the Yakuza then take care of it,_" Hakuron said. _"…kill every single one of them."_

Ranma froze; there's not way she could have heard that right... No way… Did Hakuron you said kill all of them? She knew the 'k' word well, after all, she have heard them enough from Shampoo while they were evading her.

She must've misheard him. Hakuron's not a killer.

"_What should we do about their head quarter in Si Hai?" _The other man asked, he had a thick accent but the Japanese girl managed to get a good grasp of what he said.

"_Demolish it… we will make an example out of them. We will show the rest of Hong Kong what the Dragon do to treacherous dogs." _Hakuron stated coldly.

**The Dragon? Hakuron's the head of the Dragon? The most infamous crime syndicate of Hong Kong?**

**Hakuron… the man she saved, the man she was so infatuated with… he's a mobster?**

**Her Hakuron?**

"…no…" Ranma muttered. It couldn't be; this has to be some sort of a joke.

"Ranma?"

The red head looked up. She must've said something out loud because Hakuron had heard her and walked around the corner.

He was now starring at her intently.

"Got bored of the party already?" He asked coolly, using a tone she'd never heard him used before. Well… that's not exactly true. It was the same tone he was using earlier.

It was the same tone he used when he ordered that man to kill all those people.

"I… I…" Ranma stuttered. What should she say? What **could** she say? She turned away and before continuing. It was hard enough to say this without looking at him. "I need to go back to Japan. I have friends… and family that would miss me if I don't show up soon…"

Hakuron didn't say anything; he simply looked at her with his piercing blue eyes.

She was babbling by now.

"I had a really good time, Hakuron. I… I wanted to thank you for everything. This whole night had been magical and I… I wouldn't ever forget it…" The red head finished, managing an uneasy smile.

/ Blam/

The Chinese crime lord slammed his palm onto the wall beside her. He leaned closer with taking his eyes off her.

"What if I say no?" He asked, his intonation was as calm as ever but she knew differently. His eyes… they were furious.

He leant closer, trapping her smaller body with him.

"There's nothing I can't have… power… wealth…woman…" He whispered into her eyes as his hand slowly cupped her chin, caressing it gently. "I want you… I'm not letting you go back to Japan."

"Wha… Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Ranma asked fearfully. This was just like what happened before. The same desire, the wants… no, the needs to possess her were shining through in his eyes.

Just like that businessman.

**No…**

Hakuron chuckled mirthlessly, his voice lacked it usual warmth and vibrant.

"I'm Hakuron, the head of Ryo-Oh organization, the biggest mafia in all Hong Kong."

In some distant hall, the second hand of an old clock hit twelve with a resounding thunk.

**He's really a mafia.**

Like the fairy tale, as the midnight bell began to chime and another day ended, so did the enchantment…

…a magical day of suspended belief ended just like that.

**No… It's a lie…. Please tell me it's a lie…**

Hakuron… her prince in shining armor… was a criminal…

"…I am leaving! I'm going back to Japan." Ranma screamed and turned away. She had started running when Hakuron, with his cold quiet voice, made a comment.

"How are you going to get back?"

The red headed girl froze, she hadn't thought about that. The last time she and her Pop did it by swimming but without her strength, it would be suicide.

"A world where dogs eat dogs… how could a girl like you survive, let alone making enough money for a trip of Japan? Everyday, thousands of Han with years of saving tried to leave this wretched island… what makes you think you have a better chance than them?"

Ranma clenched her fist. He was right but what could she do?

"…I'd think of something! I'll wash dishes, wait table, anything… If Hakuron won't let me go back, I save up for the ticket myself." She said, knowing full well she was lying through her teeth. Even in Tokyo, no one would give a homeless like her a job. How could she possibly survive here?

A hand grabbed her from behind, pulling her into its owners embrace.

"I have an idea…" Hakuron whispered. "…how about you whore yourself?"

…………

"A body like yours could probably sell for 300 HK dollars easily… ten people should do it…you can make it in one night."

………

"I have a better idea… I'll be your client." Hakuron said to the shocked girl, placing his hands onto her breasts. "How about it… stay with me tonight and I'll pay for the trip."

**Should she? After all, hadn't he already…**

**Baka! Why you even thinking about something like that?**

"…Let go!" Ranma shouted, slipping out of the man's grasp.

"Listen carefully, Ranma. I control the underworld; organized crimes, thugs, hoodlums, they all dance to my strings."

"As long as I want you… you'll never escape."

…

As the last of the midnight bells chimed, Ranma's world came crashing about her.

**It really was just a dream.**

--- TT ---

Author's note: Phew, I thought I'll never get this done tonight… Sorry for the six hours delay guys… I know it kept getting later and later but the chapters are getting longer as well… I couldn't believe it actually reached 2.5k…

Gosh… I'm tired…

Oh well, thank you all my reviewers, because of your constructive criticism, I think I'm doing a little better now.

Anyway, as always, reviews are welcome… flames are also welcome… just give that fire control notice a glance before proceeding though, it looks pretty serious to me…

See you tomorrow!

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

--- TT ---

p.s. what does p.s. actually stands for? ... and should I change my rating to M?


	6. Beseech

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

Chapter Six: Beseech

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there a really tragic ending to this romantic story… really… what? There isn't; so don't look me like that…

"…text…" Normal

"…_text…" _Sound effect or alternate language

"…**Text…" **Thought or something I want to draw your attention to.

--- TT ---

It was always the same.

No matter where she went, no matter what she did, nothing ever works out in the end. They all pretended to be her friend, her family… that they cared… that they wanted her….

But they didn't… none of them did, it was all a lie… They all lie...Akane, Pop, Mr. Tendo, Nabiki, Hakuron… all of them… they were all just like that businessman… they were never sincere…it was never generosity, there were always angles… they all just wanted something…

She was nothing but a tool for them… a possession… nothing but a piece of furniture… the ones that you throw out when it gets old…

Not matter what they've said… no matter what they've done… in the end…

…in the end, she was always alone.

Ranma gave Hakuron one last cursory glance before running toward the door. One of the men in black suit moved to intercept her. She shifted her arms into 'Floating Dragon's Hands' and continued running at full speed toward the man. She lashed out with a fist, causing the man to instinctively block.

Just an inch before her hand reached him, it opened up into a palm strike. Using her forward momentum, she leaned her weight onto the man and somersaulted over him.

The man boggled at the martial artist's display of high skill fake out move. He was professional enough to react quickly; he spun around and was about to run after her when a shout stopped him.

"_Let her go… where can she hide? I own Hong Kong remember?"_ Hakuron said callously to his men. _"Just wait, sooner or later, she'll come crawling back to me."_

Ranma wasn't listening and so his words would've fallen deaf to her ears even if he'd been speaking in Japanese.

The Chinese crime lord watched her go… feeling something more than a simply pang of regret burdening his heart.

'She'll come back…' He reasoned thoughtfully. 'There's no other alternative; she has to come back."

**She has to.**

…

A seed of doubt, planted by that sudden display of bravado, began to grow within his mind. But what if she doesn't. What if she's not like the other women he had before? What if she's too strong… too proud… to independent?

What if she doesn't need him?

"_Tail her. Don't take any action but report back to me every ten minutes."_ Hakuron said, turning to one of his men. "_Understood?_"

…

…

"_I don't have time for these kinds of jokes!"_ The angry shopkeeper yelled, throwing Ranma out onto the street.

"_But please sir, this isn't a joke."_ The pig tailed girl pleaded sincerely in her broken Chinese. She knew it wasn't going to work, but she had to try.

"_Sure it isn't. You came in here dressing like that," _The Chinese woman said with a sneer, pointing at the girl's expensive silk dress as she did so._ "…asking for a job as a waitress? I don't think so." _

"_Please…"_ Ranma said weakly, sighing as she watched the woman walked back into her shop. That was her twelfth attempted and so far the result had all been the same. She was hoping to at least get an odd job or two, maybe a place for the night. But that seem unlikely now.

'If I couldn't even get a job, how am I going to save up enough to go back to Japan?' The red head wondered despairingly.

"_Hey Cutie! What are you doing here all by yourself?"_ A rough malevolent voice called out to her. Ranma turned around and found herself starring at two shoddily dressed men. They were watching her lecherously, undressing her with their eyes.

Ranma swallowed the urge to beat them up; she needed a job and it wasn't like she could do it easily anyway. She boxed away her pride, fixed a smile onto her pretty face before she addressing them politely.

"_I'm looking for a job as a waitress. Can you help me?_

The two men were opening leering by now. Cute and polite, this girl could fetch some small fortune for them. And that foreign accent only served to make her more exotic. One of elbowed the other before his drooling could become even more apparent.

"_Sure! I just saw an advertisement on this café. It's right around the corner." _He told her placing a hand around her waist. _"We can take you there if you want. A girl like you should be walking alone at this time of the night."_

Ranma hand shook but she forced herself to relax.

She'd seen there type before in Tokyo, they were probably just College students looking to have a fun night out in town and maybe get lucky. They're generally pretty persistent but if you say no, they'll back off without making a scene.

There was no need to panic.

She'll just go with them to the café, took their mobile numbers and promise to call or something. It was no big deal.

Then the three of them took a left turn, walking into a dark alley.

"_Don't worry; it's just a short cut"_ The man said reassuringly.

Of course it was, Ranma almost snorted, if it wasn't for the gravity of the situation, she might have. The old Saotome Ranma might've bought it but no way was she that naïve.

Not anymore.

Without warning, the red head sprung forward, breaking away from the two men who were lagging behind to ogle at her shapely derriere. They scampered after her but she was too fast. She made it to the other end of the alley only to stop dead in her track as four similarly dressed men appeared, cutting off her path of escape completely.

It was a set up; a good one.

Ranma gritted her teeth, how could she have been so stupid. She shouldn't have assumed that Hong Kong was anything like Tokyo. She slowly backed away, Hakuron's comment about the Chinese city being a dogs-eat-dogs world coming back to haunt her anew.

Ranma stopped; remembering the two men behind her. She was trapped.

"_Now, now… you did say you wanted a job." _The same man said mockingly as he has his friends closed in around her. _"We're giving you one; we just want to make sure you have the… qualification… first." _

Ranma face hardened, this looked bad but she's not going to give up that easily. She waited until the closest one made a move to grab her before springing into action. She faked a kick to his groin, causing him and the other three to step back. She immediately dashed into the opposite direction, pushing off an errant rubbish bin to clear the two men blocking her way.

As she soared through the air, she felt a moment of elation. This was what she loved… the Art, it was her life…

/Crack/

The sensation.

It was something she'd never felt before. She didn't know what happened. One moment it was elation, a burst of sweet freedom then …the pain... It happened so quickly. A snapping sound then, a split second later, her muscle were convulsing involuntarily. She was overwhelmed with paroxysm of blinding agony as her body was wrought with painful spasms.

Ranma collapsed onto the ground, unable to even felt her legs must less land on then properly. She lay there, unmoving, like a puppet with its strings cut; synapses firing off randomly, causing arbitrary muscles to twitch.

She was like a recently killed soldier whose was still full of nerves and was jolting and jerking minutes after their death.

The red headed girl fought though the pain…the stabbing white pain…, trying to will herself to move but nothing happened.

…**what…**

A face appeared above her. A hideous face; it was full of snarling anger and bestial desire… of lust… of inhuman craving…

**Panic filled her.**

It was just like that time… A pleasant dinner with a harmless business man, eating her first real food in days…washing it down with Long Island Iced Tea…odd drink, she couldn't remember ever having it before…

She couldn't remember much but some parts were forever scarred into her mind. His animalistic eyes as he used his weight to pin her down… His stubby paws he used to pull off her cloth…

That time she got away by banging relentlessly on the wall with her Chestnut fist. The commotion caused the other tenants to come and investigate, allowing her the chance to escape.

**But the Chestnut fist wouldn't help her now.**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

She was mentally screaming… or was that physically?

A hand… a frightfully powerful hand… it gripped her throat tightly, choking off her scream. Her blue eyes writhed helpless as she was unable to do anything but lie there. She couldn't move, strength had fled her and now it seemed as if mobility has too. And with that god awful hand crushing her windpipe…she was at their mercy.

If they had such a thing.

"_A feisty one aren't we? Well, let's hope similarly energetic in bed. That last Japanese girl we got was the worse laid we ever had, all she did was lie there like a dead fish." _The face said with an air of unerring calm. He showed her his other hand which was holding something small and black. It looked like a mobile phone and it was making sparks and crackling voice as he held it near her face_. "Now, be a good girl and make this good for us, we wouldn't want something bad to happen to a pretty girl like you now do we?"_

She tried to cry out but there was simply no more air in her lungs. Her vision was beginning to tunnel when he loosened his suffocating grip.

With a surge of determination to survive, Ranma punched him with all her might. It was no good. He smiled coolly and stabbed the stunner into her side filling her world with blinding white lances of pain.

An eternity later it was over.

Ranma… or rather, a fleshy shell that once was Ranma, laid still as numerous forceful hands began undressing her. Someone somewhere said something about the dress being worth a small fortune but she couldn't care anymore.

**It would be over soon, right? Hakuron had already taken her purity, right? It's not like it mattered anymore, right?**

**Right?**

"_A boxer? What the hell?"_ A voice exclaimed.

**The sky… so many stars… you really can't see stars like this in Tokyo, it's always full of smog.**

"_Who cares about the packaging, let's get to the goods."_

**It really is beautiful. I wish I could…**

"_Holy shit, it's her maidenhood; she's a virgin."_

Tears began rolling down her face. A word came to her mind… in fact, a lot of words did but there's one in particular that stood out.

Hakuron.

**Oh God the pain…**

"_Not for long…"_

**Please make it stop…**

**Please God, make it stop…**

"…Hakuron…" Ranma mouthed the word like a prayer one last time before the world faded away.

…

/Bang/

There was no challenge letter, no battle cry, no artful display of punches and kicks; just a single thunderous shot of gunfire and the man who was about to force himself on Ranma snapped back and fell over. He was dead; a single red hole and that was all there is to it.

All eyes turned to the newcomer. He was tall, very tall compared to your average Chinese. He garbed in black suit, trousers and a cloak. He was holding a gun.

He also had a dragon-shaped birthmark on the left side of his face.

"_M… Mr. R…Ryo-oh…w…what a pleasant surprise." _The first man to have stood up stuttered as he suddenly found himself talking face to face with a barrel of a gun. "_W…What c…can we do for you?"_

Hakuron looked passed his shoulder at Ranma. He took in the state of the red headed girl and found only one answer to that question.

"_Die."_

/Bang/Bang/Bang/Bang/Bang/

…

There was nothing quite like the silence after a salvo but the Chinese crime lord had something more important on his mind. He walked over to the still girl. She hadn't moved a muscle since the shooting began and to say he was freaking out would be an understatement.

He knelt down and gathered the catatonic girl into his arms. In the starlight, he could clearly saw the trails of her unsullied tears. Her eyes were wide but vacant.

"…Hakuron…" She whispered his name softly.

"_Oh my God, what have I done?"_ Hakuron asked himself, feeling an emotion he had never expected to feel again welling up inside him

--- TT ---

Author's note: By the way, Long Island tea is actually an alcoholic drink, it doesn't taste like an actual tea but to an inexperience alcohol consumer, you can get drunk on it before you knew what happened.

Yatta! Another chapter completed. I'd like to take this moment to laugh into my mentor face, Ha! Materia's Blade-sempai, I kept at it for more than five chapters!

Ahem

Anyway, …I meant to say some stuff here but I forgot,… oh well…

Anyway, review! Yes, do that! And Flames if you want to! This is Rayne, see you tomorrow!

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi.

--- TT ---

p.s. I remember now! Someone asked for a time frame thingie, here it is

(Few day after Moxibustion---)

Ranma life has gone to tell... watching the anime... by then everyone was beating him up, even Akane can beat him up...

Ranma left with Genma to train... Cologne followed to train Ranma in the Hiryo Shouten Ha

(1 week later----)

Ranma beats Happosai with the Hiryo Shouten Ha ... and promptly lost the paper detailing how to get his strength back... Note that this is wear Ranma said, I'm leaving don't follow me and Akane replied, she understand and won't stop him…

(Days after that event---)

Ranma was thrown out of the Genma's clan... verbally. Ryoga's now the 'Heir' and Akane's new fiancée. Kasumi offered to let her stay but Nabiki said she must help out by posting nude pictures...

Ranma left…

(Days after that event---)

Starving Ranma was almost raped by the businessman...

(3 weeks after that---)

Ranma met Hakuron


	7. Sounding

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

Chapter Seven: Sounding

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than these whole eight chapters are nothing but a prologue to a main story…

"…text…" Normal

"…_text…" _Sound effect or alternate language

"…**Text…" **Thought or something I want to draw your attention to.

--- TT ---

Four deadly shadows rushed into the dark alley, not all of them were bearing gun but the ones who wasn't didn't need one either. They were the Four Emperors; absolutely ruthlessly and merciless, they were the four closest friends and personal guards of Hakuron, the head of the Dragon syndicate. So legendary were they in their prowess and loyalty, no one, no matter where they rank in the underworld, dared to aggravate them.

And they were quite worried.

Few minutes ago the driver of their beloved crime lord suddenly called, telling them that Hakuron suddenly left the car after receiving a phone call. He had a panicked look on his face when he departed.

He was also openly brandishing his pistol.

The four quickly spotted their master, not a difficult feat considering he was the only one standing in the alley. A quick glance told them they've found him a little too late. There were six bodies littering the ground. They were dead, all of them.

"Hakuron?" One of them said, approached the man in black cloak. The said man appeared to be holding someone in his arm. He seemed to be starring at that someone intently. "Hakuron?" The man's guard called out again.

It appeared that his message had gotten through that time as Hakuron looked up slowly. For a moment his right hand man saw something different about the man's eyes. That glint of uncertainty… it was as if he, the Black Dragon of Ryo-oh was…

…afraid?

It must've been a trick of the light because an instant later it was gone, leaving behind that same cold steely blue eyes that was a trademark of the seasoned mobster.

"_Juiron call Master Fei, have him prepare his healing gear right away. Tiiron take a car, a fast one, and go pick him up then take him to my estate. Fuuron, Faron, you two take care of these garbage, bribe the police or burn the bodies…do whatever you have to. " _Hakuron said calmly, handing out expedient and concise orders as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The four blinked at him. To their trained eyes, apart from the state of undress the girl appeared to be fine; there wasn't a single scratch on her.

"_GO!"_ The crime lord bellowed. He seemed to have changed from the unruffled man to the enraged dragon in an instant. A transition that was as instantaneous as it was frightening. Each of the four gave a quick bow and left running, pulling out their respective mobiles to carry out his/her mission.

As soon as they were out of sight, Hakuron allowed his mask to drop once more and began the man who was worrying about his precious woman. He lowered his head and stared at her, she was so beautiful… even now, starring lifelessly into the sky with trails of tears streaming down her face.

How could he? How could he have done something so stupid?

Hakuron shook his head, now was not the time for introspection; there'd be plenty other opportunities for that. No, he needed to get her some help first.

He knelt down and wrapped his cloak around Ranma shivering body, providing her with much needed modesty. With her securely within his arms once more, Hakuron started off in the same direction his four bodyguards took earlier.

Upon leaving the alley, he took in the free-flowing traffic with irritation. It was two o'clock in the morning and while there was still a lot of car passing by, none of them was a taxi.

'_I don't have time for this.' _Hakuron thought, biting off some profanities in frustration.

He took a step onto the road and in front of a speeding car and watched calmly as it came to a screeching halt, stopping almost a foot short of hitting him. The shocked driver almost had a heart attack; he watched the evidently suicidal man approached him.

"_Who the heck are you? What on Earth were you thinking, do you want to die or something?" _The man screamed at Hakuron, flabbergasted at his apparent lack of self-preservation.

The tall Chinese eased his girl's weight onto one arm and reached into his pocket with the other.

"_My name is Hakuron and I'm asking you the same question as your latter one."_ The Black Dragon stated emotionlessly, pointing his gun at the spot between the man's eyes. _"Get out of the car or die."_

The driver chose the only real option and scampered out of the vehicle.

Hakuron got in and laid Ranma down gently into the seat beside his. He ignored the honking hones of the car behind him and ran over to the driver's side. He got into the driver's seat and threw the gun casually onto the dashboard before flooring the pedal.

His estate was four miles away; at the speed he was going, it shouldn't take him more than three minutes.

Even through Hong Kong's traffic.

…

A few minutes later Hakuron crashed through the gate to his own residence. He ignored the hail of gunfire that peppered the car tires and pulled into a stop on his front porch. The barrage halted the moment he came out of the now-useless vehicle.

He picked up the unconscious red head and dashed into his mansion. The crime lord ascended the stairs rapidly, taking three landings with each stride. Kicking the door to his personal compartment opened was probably excessive but getting Ranma safe and comfortable was first and foremost on his mind.

He placed the girl gently onto the bed and waited impatiently for Master Fei, his personal healer, to arrive. He sat beside her still form on the huge divan, caressing her tear stained face tenderly with his finger.

The girl stirred, mouthing a single word before becoming stationary once again.

**Hakuron…**

A quiet whimper…

An adverse cry of plea; like a sounding of a distance bell, it awoke something within him. A sliver of memory, long buried in the deepest reaches of his mind, gave a small shudder before breaking free of his tight mental discipline.

Hakuron… it wasn't even his real name.

His real name was Li Chien.

Born with a bad omen, he was always regarded with an air of disdain and pity. But when his relatives started dying those harmless scorns turned into suspicions and, for some, out right hatred. Then his superstitious took him to a fortune teller and credulously believed her when she said he'd bring doom to his entire family and those who's near him. As soon as they got home, his father tried to kill him.

He was five at the time.

It was only his mother timely intervention that saved his life. Knowing that sooner or later an 'accident' was going to befallen her child, his mother took him and ran away. The two of them were eventually hunted down and his mother was killed before his own eyes.

Then Kouron, an aging mobster, took him in and trained him as a weapon. He learned strategies, politics, subterfuge, martial art, firearm and more. Driven by revenge, he became so good Kouron named Hakuron his heir.

As the head of the Dragon, Hakuron ruthlessly slaughtered those who wronged him. The first few names on his list were that of his bigoted father and his relatives who were willing to kill a child best on a fortune telling.

It was only after ordering their demise that he realized he'd just fulfilled his tragic destiny. But that wasn't the end of it.

Everyone who ever got near him was drawn impeccably into the same doomed faith, just like that fortune teller predicted.

**And now Ranma…**

…

Sounds of hurried footsteps alerted him of someone entering the room. He shook himself out of his reveries and turned to the door.

"_Master Fei!" _He yelled, immediately recognizing the aged and wizened old man that had just walked in.

"_Mr. Hakuron."_ The martial artist master replied with a bow. _"What can I do for you?"_

"_Help her."_ The crime lord said, pointing at Ranma still form. There was not many people in his life Hakuron found worthy of his respect but Master Fei was one of them; the man's skills were nothing short of amazing. _"Please."_

"_I shall try my best."_ Master Fei said. He seemed to be considering something for a moment. _"Stay, only if you have absolute control of your emotions. Otherwise, please wait outside."_

Hakuron blinked.

It was the said phase the healer had used each time he practiced his craft and in all those time Hakuron simply nodded in reply.

But this time…

"_I'll be right outside."_ The younger man said, giving Ranma one last glance before leaving.

Once outside the room, Hakuron had no idea where he was going, simply that he didn't want to be there. He couldn't be close to her, not when Master Fei was working…

**Or any other time for that matter…**

The tall Chinese shook his head violently; it was all just a bunch of spurious babbles, nothing more than hoaxes. He would not be reduced to a mumbo jumbo spouting fools like his father.

But what if, a small fucking if, but what if it was true… what if he really bring doom to all that ever comes close to him. After all, Ranma had only been with him for a day, not even that and she almost got rape. What if he chose to keep her here? What if he continued to lo… be attracted to her?

**What would happen to Ranma then?**

Hakuron feet took him to his study. He walked inside and slumped down into the recliner, thoughts of recent event were still troubling him. He stared at the jug of brandy still sitting where he'd last left it. He poured out a glass of the stuff and chucked it down before filling it to brim once again.

Drinking like this could kill a man but Hakuron wasn't sure he was one at the time.

Beside, as Mr. Ryo-oh, the leader of Dragon, my life and lives of those around me will always be in danger; do I really want to put her through all that?

**She doesn't love me.**

**I'm being a by selfish bastard by keeping her here, against her will and risking her life like this. If I truly love her, I'd let her go.**

Self-sacrificing and benevolent sounding crap but in the end it was all a lie, was it not?

"_I'm a coward."_ He said aloud, reaching for the phone.

"_Furon, it's me. Make the proper preparation for a flight to Japan."_

"_No don't bother with the guards, I'm not going."_

--- TT ---

Author's note: This chapter is mostly written in Hakuron's point of view… the reason for that will be clear enough. A lot of people might be thinking I'm rushing things a lot… again, there's a reason for that too. Oh heck, there's even a reason why Ranma is absolutely, irredeemably, irremeably out of character. In fact there's reason for everything I did 'wrong' for the last past seven chapters.

Well, apart from the grammatical and spelling mistakes anyway…

But I'm serious! Yes! Totally serious… the reason will be apparent in the next chapter… so stay tune, won't you?

Anyway, please review… it would make me feel oh-so-giddy when I wake up tomorrow. Or flame me… either way, any kind of response will get my creative juices flowing.

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi.

--- TT ---

p.s. I'm actually serious about the whole, 'there is a reason thing' and What does LMO mean?


	8. Dreams

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hanageshi

Chapter Eight; Dreams

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there are sketches of Ranma-kun littered in my notebook… really, there aren't…

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

We're here at the eighth chapter… are you ready?

--- TT ---

Unenthused tedium of dreams, that was what it felt like…

…a bad bit of ones creativity…

Like one of those fantasies where you fell through the sky, starring at nothingness…space…boundless, empty space; it made you felt as if there was something more; as if there was some kind of hidden meanings behind the monotonous repetitions of white clouds or spotless blue skies.

It was like when watching a movie; she could almost picture herself reaching out with her hand and hitting the screen, realizing that it was just a show.

But… why should she?

"_Miss…"_A voice called out calmly from beside her. Ranma craned her neck to look. The owner of the voice was an old man; he was sitting on a chair beside the bed she was lying on. _"How are you feeling?"_

The red head mentally asked herself before answering truthfully.

"_I'm not feeling." _Ranma said dully.

"_Good." _The Chinese man said with a nod, as if he was expecting the answer._ "Then we can begin."_

For a second the girl thought she should asked him who he was, where was she, what were they doing here and what exactly were they about to do. But only for a second; then, as that second had past, she simply nodded, apparently ready to begin.

"_My name is Fei Hua Jun and I'm a healer. Something horrible has been done to you and I'm here to help."_ The old man said soothingly, there was a grim but warm smile on his face. It would've served to reassure her if she were to be scared or panicked. _"Do you understand?"_

Ranma nodded.

"_Can you recall what happened?"_

A maverick…vicious men… blinding-white pain… calloused hands… stabbing pains… nothing… She was raped.

She gave him another nod.

"_Can you tell me?" _Master Fei said quietly.

"_Yes. Six men, they stunned me with an electric weapon a raped me." _The girl said monotonously, like she was a news reporter quoting the day's stock market. There was no feeling, none at all.

"_I see." _The aged healer commented thoughtfully. His brows etched into a concerned bow but otherwise there was no change in his visage. _"Now, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage… you know my name but what I have no idea what yours is. Could you tell me Miss?_

"_Ranma." _The said girl answered in the same emotionless tone. Her eyes followed his hands as they moved closer to her. Eventually they disappeared; it seemed they were somewhere on her head.

"_Miss Ranma,"_ He said with a hint of regret. _"Please forgive me."_

Then he pulled his hands away.

Then the pain returned.

"Oh God!" Ranma screamed, her body convulsed as untold agony rushed through her veins.

Those malicious, cruel smiles… those God awful smiles… The pain, the feeling of utter helplessness… those hands… those eyes… those cold, inhuman eyes…Then the pain…

**Oh God…the pain…**

"Make it stop!" She screamed her fingers digging deeply into her skull, drawing blood. Her whole body was shaking violently, unable to cope with the voracious violation committed upon her. "Please, make it stop!"

Master Fei moved swiftly, hitting a pressure point on the hysterical girl's nape of her neck, stunning her painlessly for one second. But one second was all he needed as he spun the girl's lithe frame around and precisely placed two acupunctures' needles into her cranium.

'It did,' Ranma realized 'It stops, the pains, it was gone, all gone.'

She turned to the healer. Instead of confusion, all she was aware of was being mildly curious.

"What did you do?"

"Acupuncture, it stops you from feeling extreme emotion, effective for treating traumatize patients such as yourself." The old acupuncturist answered in her native tongue, realizing that his patient was Japanese.

Ranma pondered this for a short while.

"You gave me a cure then you took it back, why?" She said finally.

"It wasn't a cure." Master Fei said with a sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, starring into her eyes empathically. "There's no cure."

Ranma opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by the man raised hand.

"There's no cure because there's almost nothing wrong with you. Those foul beasts tried to do something horrendous to you and it is over now. It isn't your fault, it never was. You're not 'soiled' or 'impure' or any other foolish stigmata, you are still you. Blaming yourself for something that's not your mistake and is beyond your control is illogical."

"But you're only human. As with all people, it will take times for you to get over those memories. The acupunctures were to allow you to be consulted properly instead of being heavily medicated or left to mellow for weeks, maybe months."

The Japanese girl considered that for a minute before she spoke anew.

"What about the second part of my question. Why did you remove the acupuncture?"

"This acupuncture is called Kiss of a Maiden; it has the same effect as narcotic drugs and is similarly addictive. The sedative effect, if use not sparingly, can cause ones body to become dependent to it, a **very** dangerous side effect."

"Also, the Kiss of a Maiden only masks the emotions, it doesn't take them away. The problem you're facing is a very real one. It would not disappear if you just ignore it."

"Beside, if you could keep using it, would you hide away for all your life simply because of one incident? Shuts out all realities and live in your dream because something bad happened? I thought not."

Again, Master Fei's words left Ranma in the depth of self-reflection and introspection. She guessed should be amaze at the level of thinking she was doing but she wasn't. She supposed it was one of the side effects of the calming acupuncture.

She thought more about her situation and found herself somewhat perplexed, mostly by what she had been doing. Her action for the passed two days had been illogical and completely out of her character. Whatever reason she had for staying with Hakuron and treating him like she had been doing, it now escaped her. The more she pondered about it the less sense it made; she would've groan in frustration had she been able to feel such a thing at the moment.

What on Earth had she been doing?

What kind of silly emotion had been clouding her thought… so much so that she'd been dressing up for a man she'd thought raped her?

"Master Fei, how long do I have until you must remove the acupuncture?" Ranma asked thoughtfully.

"Not long," The Chinese man replied. "But do not worry though; I'd replace the needle within the moment your mental frame work begins to suffer. We shall repeat this process until you're ready to face those dreadful memories."

The young martial artist contemplated this latest information with concern.

"Master Fei, if I removed the acupuncture completely…" She was cut off as the old healer understood where she was going with it.

"Will it hasten your recovery? Yes, but it'll be extremely painful for you, both physically and mentally. The strain should be almost unbearable." His tone was of concerned one but knowing that the girl was under Kiss of a Maiden, he couldn't rightfully accuse her of thinking with befuddled mind. If she was considering such path, her reasoning must be perfectly sound.

Still… He had to ask.

"Are you sure, Miss Ranma?"

The girl nodded lethargically, a look grim determination was showing on her otherwise impassive face.

Ranma lifted her hands to her head and took hold of the acupuncture needles carefully before pulling them out.

She gritted her teeth until it rattled, her body began to tremble. She held on for as long as she could…

…then the screaming started.

…

Some time later the exhausted frame of one emotionally and physically drained girl fell unceremoniously onto the bed.

"Are you well?" Master Fei commented uneasily. It was a rather redundant question, after all why asked a sobbing, gasping, shuddering girl if she was okay. He probably wouldn't have said it if that wasn't the first time a patient decided to do that.

"I…" Ranma began half heartedly, she was lost for word after that first 'I' and rightfully so. After all, what does one say after facing mental anguish of being rape and forced oneself to deal with it in less than half an hour?

"I'll live." She answered weakly. Everything wasn't peachy; she still had a lot of issues to work out not to mention the mess with Hakuron, but she'll live.

"That's good to hear." The pseudo doctor said with a smile. This girl was strong, she will indeed live. "I suggest a week of rest and nutritious food just to make sure you don't relapse, you're extremely malnourished did you know that?"

Ranma nodded, a month on the street was the most successful diet program after all.

"While we're on the topic, a lot of your nerves, muscles and meridian lines were shifted; I did corrected most of them while you were asleep but… there's one more thing..." Master Fei told her. "…The Weakness Moxibustion, I assume you know what it is."

The girl's eyes widened to the size of dinner plate.

"You know of a cure?" She practically screamed into his face. Forget about rest, this was way more important; this was about her Art!

"Yes and no," The healer said, backing away a bit from the animated girl. "The original chart containing the cautery had been stolen by the infamous Happosai of Japan… but I have something else that will undo its effect."

Ranma eyes followed every movement the aged Master made as he walked over to his healing kit and preceded to remove a small vial of liquid. He walked back over and showed it to her. The stuff inside looked like your run of the mill tap water.

"Phoenix's tears, it's a potent healing potion and an ingredient for half dozen other useful concoctions. Taken in large amount; it's also an age-reversing potion. The moxibustion looks to be six weeks old give or take a few days; seven table spoons of this should turn your body into about its state as of several days before you received it. But there's a catch…"

"The process is totally complete, meaning everything aspect of you will be back to the way it was, your recently developed agility, skill and even your memories of the last seven weeks will be eradicated."

'A catch? That's not a catch, that's a frickin bonus!' Ranma mentally yelled. 'I'd forget all my time starving on the street, scrounging foods from rubbish bins. All the memories of being weak and helpless…of being betrayed… it'd be like none of it had ever happened.'

**But I'll forget about Hakuron… **

The Japanese girl froze, that thought had came out of no where and hit her like a ton of brick.

_**But what about the Art… don't you want it back? Don't want to not ever have to feel helpless again? **_

**But… Hakuron…he's…**

_**He's a GUY you'd just met yesterday.**_

**But… I……, Hakuron, he saved us before, he could protect us again; if we're with him then we'd never have to fight again…**

**_Hakuron is a murderous mobster, he only saved us because we were his woman, his property. How do you know he won't just toss us aside? Especially after he learned that we're unclean? _**

**Stop! Just stop it!**

…

"I… can I have sometime to think about it? I need to… consult… with Hakuron first." Ranma said, avoiding the man's eyes.

Master Fei founded himself surprise at her answer. He'd thought she would jump at the chance, after all with the level of power being locked away, he was almost certain she was no novice in the Art.

"Of course you can, dear." He said, granting her permission to go. As he watched her left, he could help but felt slightly jealous of his frequent client, Hakuron. If a warrior of Ranma's caliber would even consider regaining her strength not worth losing a month worth of memory with him then imagine the loyalty and the love she must have for the crime lord.

…

Ranma herself was very much confused why she did what she just did.

Here's she was walking down the hallway looking for a man she'd just met and leaving the cure in that room. Not only was she looking for him, she was looking for him with a distinct possibility that she might give up the cure for him.

**Could she do it? Could she give up the Art for Hakuron?**

_**Baka! Why are you even thinking about it? The Art, Hakuron… it's not even a choice. **_

Lost in thought, her feet took her closer and closer to the Chinese crime lord without her realizing it.

"_Furon, it's me. Make the proper preparation for a flight to Japan."_

Ranma craned her next; that was Hakuron. It sounded as if it came from that room over there. She walked toward it, keeping her feet light so she wouldn't alert him. She wanted to know why Hakuron is leaving for Japan.

"_No don't bother with the guards, I'm not going."_

**He's not?**

"_No, it's not for me. It's for Ranma, the girl I brought from Japan. I'm sending her home."_

**Why?**

"_Why? I have no further use for her." _

**I am… of no further use… to Hakuron?**

Ranma ran down the hallway, tears and bitter smile staining her harmonious face.

'I guess it should've been obvious, after all who'd like to play with broken toy? An impure girl like me doesn't interests someone like Hakuron in the slightest so she'd just learn her place right.' The red head thought sardonically 'I was foolish to even hope otherwise in the first place.'

The distraught young woman burst into the sleeping quarter, gaining the attention of Master Fei immediately. He stood up and turned around to look at her. She was openly crying once again.

"I'd like to take the Phoenix's tears, Master Fei. As I am now, Hakuron deems me to be of no further use to him." Ranma told the aging healer, trying, and failing, to keep her voice from cracking as she did so.

The old man could tell something was wrong but his doctrine as a healer prevented him from questioning her decision. He measured for her the proper dosage and told her to write a letter for herself and her friends regarding what has happened before taking the potion.

Master Fei quickly left the estate, feeling extremely disappointed in his client and ex-pupil. When Hakuron was younger, the healer had taught the Kung Fu and basic herbs. He guessed he should've concentrated on one other topic. While that Ranma girl could've been a useless bodyguard with the Weakness moxibustion, she loved him with all her heart.

Botching up true love like that… how disappointing.

…

Back in the room, Ranma found herself two envelopes and some pieces of papers and sat down at a desk.

She wished thing could've been different.

She wished things could've slower… that she and Hakuron could've met under different circumstances. She wished she could've fallen in love without losing everything. … and that Hakuron could've loved her…

But that wasn't what happened.

Ranma picked up the pen and stared at the blank piece of paper thoughtfully.

**She knew better now, she was never a Cinderella…**

**No… she was more like Alice.**

**She's like Alice, she been hit by the most peculiar circumstances, fallen down the rabbit hole and into a world where everything was so vastly different. She has been nothing like herself as she was swept away by the magic. In an adventure for from home, where one thing happened after another, always swaying and never really managed to find her footing.**

**In the end she'd fall in love with an illusion and never wanted to leave.**

**But… that was all it ever was, just an illusion.**

With that, Ranma picked up the pen and started writing.

**It was a dream and maybe it was time for her to wake up.**

…

The girl wrote out two letters, one for her and one for the Tendos, explaining things. She got up and tired her hair into a pig tail. Tomorrow she'd be back in Japan…

…and then, who knows, she could be home.

**Goodbye wonderland… I'll visit you again when I find my Alice.**

--- TT ---

**Over The Rainbow**

(Arlen-Harburg)

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high  
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow  
Skies are blue  
And the dreams that you dare to dream  
Really do come true

Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemondrops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow  
Why then, oh why can't I?

Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemondrops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow  
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow

Why, oh why can't I?

--- TT ---

**END OF PROLOGUE **

--- TT ---

Author's note: I did drop clues you know… heaps of them… like last chapter's author's note… the one at the start, the one you guys don't read. I bet no one even noticed it kept changing… And the Summary, OMG guys, the summary didn't even match what was happening, didn't that tip you off?

Now for some of you who didn't get it. I'd like to quote a part of Ozzallos's profile as per explanation.

What do you get when you strip your main character of his canon personality, kill off all the supporting cast and send him off into another xover series? You get one big bucket of suck. Any story where you can replace the main character with the name "Ed" and not know the difference automatically fails nine times out of ten. Do yourself a favor and assume you aren't that tenth time. Why did you even bother choosing that character and series to begin with if you were just going to piss all over the story and abandon it next chapter? Ha ha ha! Ranma doesn't have a curse, lost all his memories to the neko ken and has been training with bruce lee in the cyber wars of 2010! O.o' Of course that's ridiculous sounding, but its amazing how many aspiring authors totally diverse the characters from their original canon so completely. The sooner you accept the fact that you should scrub these fics from your hard drive with a brillo pad, the better.

I agree with him wholeheartedly, now I know that may sound hypocritical considering what I did with my so-called Ranma in the first eight chapters.

It was a set up.

Originally, this was going to be a series where a random guy shows up and fall in love with Ranma-chan because she reminded him of a girl who he used to love…. How cliché is that? Oh course it's very cliché this is why I wrote this 18k prologue… to actually make it less cliché…

Now for those readers who are open minded and respect an author enough to let her screw your favorite character so utter with huge OOC-ness and YET still read on till this chapter… this is where you rejoice…

Because in the main arc, you'll no longer have to hurt yourself reading story about a random girl with Ranma's name.

You'll actually get to read about the Ranma you'd known and love.

The main arc will be set around some episode after the Moxibustion and Ranma will be Ranma like.

Thank you for having enough faith in me to get to this point. THIS is your reward.

…for all my reviewers… all I can say is I'm sorry but I couldn't have told you this without ruining the story. I'm sorry for those who wasted time commenting about Ranma's OOC-ness which I knew, yet, I still wrote into the story… you'd probably notice that I noticed it too. Again, I apologize.

Anyway, please review…or flame… they're both appreciated. The next chapter will come out in a day or so… I'm going into another town to visit a friend and see him off. He's leaving to study oversea. This probably mean I won't update tomorrow… barring I woke up tomorrow and found 20 reviews and took my laptop to read them all on the way and work on the story then.

Again, please review…

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi.

--- TT ---

p.s. Don't kill me… I'm really sorry for tricking you guys…


	9. C1 Then

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

First Component: Chapter One: Then

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not my anymore than there is a dancing tomatoes on my brother's head…

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

--- TT ---

There are many ways you can begin a story, some which are good and some which are down right horrible. This isn't one of either; because this isn't a beginning.

Some stories are linear; meaning time flows in the direction we're accustomed with and that the beginning is where the story usually starts. This isn't one of them.

This is a story about love; all conquering love, all encompassing love, all powerful love…

This is a story about a boy who's a girl who's a boy who's a girl. A man who's no man and a dragon that's alive but have never yet live. An idea that will never die… an ideal that'll last forever… a love that's truly unforgettable.

And a book.

A small and easily unnoticeable book but one that will remind us of something important…that words and idea can change the world…that if you believe, anything is truly possible.

Anything, just believe.

--- TT ---

It was just a small book.

Well, not even that; it was just a used diary… with some stuff written in it.

And the words 'Finding Alice' carved into the black material of the front cover. It seemed innocent enough and Ranma didn't give it another thought before he opened it and read what was inside.

"Let's see… a red head… the expressionless girl…. the Japanese… Ranma…" The pig tailed boy prattled along as he flicked through the little book.

Then it dawned on him what exactly he just read out.

"WHAT!!!" Ranma screamed loudly, flipping back to the pages he was skimming over. He started reading it again, seriously this time; paying attention to every word. The first paragraph sounded innocent enough; a red head trotting down a street on a rainy night, all in all, not so different from the stuff he had to read in Miss Hinako's class.

So he continued onto the next one.

And that was where it got weird.

To say the material wasn't what he was expecting would probably be the understatement of the century.

It wasn't that he was expecting to read diary entries or something like that; to tell you the through, he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting at all when he opened that little book.

Inside was a story, a rather shocking one. It was story about a girl, a girl falling in love with a boy. It was pretty intense, fast moving and written descriptively... oh it wasn't perfect, far from it. It was actually pretty clumsy work, boring in places and moves too fast in many; but no, those things weren't what shocked the pig tailed boy…

…what shocked him was the fact the protagonist name was Ranma… and the story

…the story was supposed to be about him.

Of course it was just a joke; it has to be.

After all, that wasn't how it happened; sure he thought he had lost the chart and was about to leave but the old ghoul found it and cured him in the end.

Beside, no matter what happened, he wouldn't have given up like that. And Ranma Saotome never loses, so it couldn't have been about him anyway.

And don't even let him get started on the whole falling in love with a man thing; he's a guy damn it! Is that too much to ask?

"Blah, what a stupid prank; I guess Nabiki really is losing her touch after all." Ranma muttered, tossing the book off-handedly into a corner of the room. It landed on top of the pile of junks he'd collected over the year.

What was it supposed to do anyway? Scares me? Gives me diabetes with its sweetness more like; God, I can't understand how girls like these icky shoujo romance crap, especially uncute tomboys like Akane.

Ranma trotted off to dinner, leaving the strange little diary and his thoughts of it back in the room.

It will have to wait; after all there is nothing more important than dinner, right?

The pig tailed martial artist took his usual seat beside his father's. He accepted the bowl Kasumi passed him and began eating in earnest. The meal was tempura; deep fried variety of sea food and vegetable. Apart from couple of instances where Genma tried to steal his food, the dinner was rather peaceful compared to its usual standard.

Ranma looked at Nabiki, wondering whether he should bring up her stupid prank thing or not. In the end, he decided that ignoring it would probably annoy her more and left the table without saying anything.

The boy made his way back to his room. He lied on his futon for about half an hour, still unable to get the thought of the book out off his mind. He tried keeping himself occupied by doing other things like exercising, doing one handed push ups. Soon he found himself doing them absentmindedly while sneaking glances at pile of junks in the far corner.

Eventually, his curiosity overrode his resolve and forced him over to the said corner. He surreptitiously leant over and picked up the little book from where it was; lying on the same spot he'd thrown it to an hour earlier.

Ranma eyed the door warily before opening the used diary to its first page.

_**Finding Alice, by R, the Red Poppy.**_

"R, the Red Poppy? That doesn't sound like Nabiki." The raven haired boy muttered thoughtfully. "R… could that be Ryoga? …Nah! No way, the pig boy couldn't write anything like this anymore than I can.

But who could it be though? The only other R was Ryounosuke and that guy couldn't even remember his own name.

Hm… Red Poppy… nothing on that either…

Ranma gave a shrug and started reading; he'd worry about this later, it was probably no one other than the infamous Ice Queen anyway.

She skimmed down the page to where she got up to last. It was a bit after a girl called Ranma just cursed her father, someone named Tendo and someone named Happosai.

_**It had only been a few days since she had received the Weakness Moxibustion point and, as far as she concerned, her life has pretty much took a nose dive and crash landed into hell.**_

_**At first things didn't look so bad; Ryoga appeared to be a real friend for a change, saving her from her other rivals like that. Then the Old Ghoul taught her a new technique that didn't involve usage of strength, the Hiryou Shouten Ha or Dragon's Ascension to Heaven Blast. **_

Ranma paused his reading, he couldn't help but smile as he recalled, vividly, the image of the fanged boy holding his own against the combined force of Mousse and father and son duo of the insane Kunos. No matter what people say; to him, Ryoga has always been a good friend.

'Except when he took advantage of Akane's weakness of small animal.' The pig tailed boy mentally groused. 'Damn the accidental pervert.'

He shook his head at the bitter sweet memory and read on.

_**Then she'd gone to face the ancient pervert and that's when, as the American so eloquently out it, the shit hit the fan.**_

_**The fight itself, while extremely degrading; having to pose for those risqué photos, was not that bad. She could, and did, endure it; after all it would've been worth it if she got her strength back. But fiancée…**_

"_**Ex-fiancée" Ranma verbally corrected; practically spitting the word out.**_

_**Her ex-fiancée had to get in the way and, as always, she had to be saved. But this time the cost has been far more than a simple malleting she received for her 'man handling' of the quick temper girl.**_

_**This time it has cost her, her life.**_

_**Well, not exactly… but since she valued her Art above all else and would gladly die for its cause, it amounted to the same thing really.**_

_**But that wasn't the end of the story… No, the real ending was much, much worse…**_

Ranma shivers, what could possibly be worse than that? While the event was far behind him and he wanted nothing better than to bury any memories he had of the whole embarrassing incident, he still thought about it.

He still had nightmares about it.

Suppressing a shiver, the pig tailed boy re-focused his attention back onto the page. He read the next line and blinked; he had been expecting an explanation…or maybe something to suggest what could've been worse than being weak for the rest of one's life is.

Instead the next line read; **_Suddenly a man ran into her_**.

Giving himself a confused shrug, Ranma read on.

"_**Ah!" She cried out in surprise. **_

_**Although it wasn't exactly a tackle, the impact almost thrown her lightly built frame to the ground. Off balance, the red head couldn't do anything as a strong hand took hold of her hand, pulling her into the alley beside them.**_

_**Ranma tried to break away but she couldn't muster enough strength to her a baby much less a full grown man. She opened her mouth to scream but the stranger's other hand found its way over her mouth, stifling her cry for help into soundless mewing noises.**_

_**Fear, unknown fear, began to grow in her stomach. She thought she had felt something similar to this when Sanzenin kissed her during their first encounter on the rink.**_

_**Ranma began trashing about in the man's grasp. But in her weaken state holding on to her was like holding on to a reluctant kitten; annoying but not difficult.**_

"_**Chen Mo!" He hissed in her ear.**_

_**The captive girl couldn't speak Chinese but she did spent enough time over there to learn the word 'silence'.**_

"_**Didn't he come this way?" **_

_**A shout came from the main street. It was accompanied by sounds of footsteps, lots of them.**_

"_**Spread out and find him… the bastard will pay for disgracing the Onizuka in our own turf."**_

…

_**After what seemed like an eternity later, the stranger allowed the hand clamped over her mouth to drop but still holding onto her with his other hand.**_

"_**Who are you? What are you doing?" She started speaking; her voice was a pitch higher than it normally would be, although from fear or something else she didn't know.**_

_**She whirled around to face the stranger, really seeing him for the first time. He was tall, of course everyone was tall compared to her, but he was taller than most with broad shoulder. Her eyes drifted upward.**_

_**Then her heart skipped a beat.**_

"SAOTOME!" A feminine and annoyed sounding voice called out.

The said boy blinked a couple of times before tearing his eyes away from the book, feeling somewhat irritated as he did so. That story, by whoever it was that wrote it, was really engaging, nothing like the poetry stuff he had to read in Miss Hinako's English class at all. It managed to capture his interest…an amazing feat if you consider his attitude toward all things unrelated to martial arts.

"What is it, Nabiki?" He shouted at the door without bothering to get up; what could she possibly need him for at this hour? Unless she's thinking about…oh heck no, that was a one-time thing and he only did it to beat the Old freak.

"Little sister is watching a horror film downstairs…." The young mercenary trailed off meaningfully.

Pheh, meaningfully my butt.

"…and you're telling me this why?" The pig tailed said as sarcastically as he could. He hasn't spent an entire week learning how to act just for that stupid Romeo and Juliet play. In fact, you'd be surprise how many combat situations calls for a little bit of dramatics.

"Don't you think it you _duty_ as her fiancée to comfort her when she's scared? To ease her fear and sooth her tears? Don't you know _anything, _Saotome?"

Okay… so either his tone wasn't sarcastic enough or she's just trying to annoy him.

"No one's making her do anything. It's her choice, if she doesn't like it then maybe she shouldn't be watching it in the first place." He countered.

Ranma noted, while the silence hung grimly in the air, that he wasn't quite sure what he just said himself… but it made sense didn't it? It was her choice to watch the stupid thing in the first place. He had protected her from everything else, foreign princes and crazy amazons just to name a few; why should he be required to save her even from her own stupidity?

…

There was a quiet ruffling of cloths that followed the period of silence; he wasn't sure but he could guess what it was.

Nabiki left.

He, Ranma Saotome, had beaten Nabiki 'the Ice Queen' Tendo in her own domain, with words.

Heh.

The boy smirked and turned back to his book.

_**A stray moonlight played across the alley, illuminating the stranger's face for her to see. He was handsome, a perfect blend of astute royalty look with a touch of striking ragged primal feel. On the left side of his face was dragon-shaped birthmark. The mystical beast looked real enough to have been a work of a master tattooist.**_

_**Then she saw them.**_

_**A pair of translucent blue eyes that mirrors her owns; the twin orbs that spoke of years upon years of suffering and hardship. Starring into them evoked a feeling she'd never felt before.**_

_**It was… indescribable.**_

'_**Who is this man?' The words echoed softly in the sanctuary of her mind.**_

_**Then the moment pasted. As swiftly as before, the fear returned. She futilely tried to jerk her hand away from him.**_

"_**Let go of me!" She began to scream, still pulling away in vain as fear overrode her deeply ingrained sense of arrogance. "Anybody please help!"**_

_**The man blinked in surprise, partly from the shouting but also from the fact that she spoke in Japanese. He took hold of her shoulder with his free hand, trying to calm her down by speaking her native language.**_

"_**Calm down, stop shouting." He commanded quietly but firmly, fixing his cold blue eyes on her. His voice was vibrant and **_

"_**No! Let me go!" Still in grip of hysteria, the girl continued wailed and pulled away. **_

"_**I said be quiet." The man hissed at her once again. By now his face was only inches away from hers.**_

"_**Please don't…"**_

_**Please don't what exactly, Ranma never quite finished. Her mouth was filled with another strange new sensation. Her very skin tingled with an unfamiliar anticipation as pleasure explored from her mouth and enveloped her whole being. It was as if all her sensory nodes were concentrated upon her lips, making it an erogenous zone by default. It was as if…**_

_**It was as if she was melting…**_

"…_**whah?…" She managed to whimper, her cheeks flushed bright red and her heart beat loudly. **_

"_**So you're finally ready to listen?" He commented with a breath-takingly charming smile.**_

_**His word broke her out of her spell bound stupor. She started to notice where, who, when, how and more importantly, what, just happened. **_

_**He kissed her.**_

_Thud Thud_

"That was…" Ranma began slowly, his heart pounding like never before. He was completely befuddled by what he just read, especially the last bit. "…what the heck was that?!?!?!"

**That wasn't him.**

_Thud Thud_

Whoever that Ranma was… that wasn't him. It would be the end of the world before he began thinking about a guy like that… much less kissing him…

His eyes refocused and he looked down at the book.

_Thud Thud_

He snapped the silly thing shut and turned it over in his hand. A closer examination of the front cover revealed nothing he hasn't seen earlier. It was still just a plain ordinary diary.

_Thud Thud_

He could feel his cheeks burning. He slowly raised his hands up and plopped them over his eyes. Darkness… easy and simple darkness… how welcoming… no more words…

…

_**Her mouth was filled with another strange new sensation. Her very skin tingled with an unfamiliar anticipation as pleasure explored from her mouth and enveloped her whole being. It was as if all her sensory nodes were concentrated upon her lips, making it an erogenous zone by default. It was as if…**_

_**It was as if she was melting…**_

_Thud Thud_

Why is this so different? Just because the character has the same name as him, does that automatically make so darn easy to imagine? Why could he see it so clearly like it was yesterday's memories?

_**It was as if she was melting…**_

_Thud Thud_

_**Melting…**_

_Knock knock knock_

"Ranma-kun… won't you go downstairs to watch the horror film with Akane-chan? When I left her it looked as if she doesn't want to watch it alone…" Kasumi said.

"What about Mr. Tendo and my old man, couldn't one of them watch it with her?" Ranma said biting his lips.

While going downstairs to watch the horror movie with Akane was a damn good excuse to get away from the book for a while, Ranma's pride and ego would not let him escape that easily. His attitude toward certain things could sometime be down right masochistic.

"Father and Uncle are playing Chess right now... and Grandfather had gone out since the end of dinner…" The Tendo girl answered without raising her voice. "Oh my, you're not busy doing anything are you?"

Kasumi's words brought his attention back to the little book he was holding.

He starred at it warily, feeling instinctively that he should burn the stupid thing or throw it away. He always trust his instinct but this seemed so ridiculous… seriously, what harm could one little book do?

Beside, he can't run away! Ranma Saotome… a coward who's afraid of reading a simple book, he'd be the laughing stock of Nerima if that got out.

The boy turned to the door, trying frantically to think up an excuse why he couldn't go.

"_No one's making her do anything. It's her choice, if she doesn't like it then maybe she shouldn't be watching it in the first place."_

…that… what was what he said to Nabiki wasn't it? That you shouldn't do something you don't want to do… because that would just be silly…

Ranma looked down at the book once more before stuffing it under his futon. He stood up and walked over to the door.

"Fine, I'll do it." Ranma grumbled as he slid the door open.

"Oh my, thank you so much Ranma-kun." Kasumi intoned happily, clapping her hands together in front of her bosoms. Ranma grinned brusquely at the compliment before started walking down the stairs. Before the boy was out of her ear shot, he muttered something about stupid tomboy who shouldn't do things she doesn't want to.

Kasumi smiled wryly as she followed his disappearing form with her eyes.

"But Ranma-kun, she _does_ like it. Why else what would she be watching it then? What does being scared and wanting someone to watch it with her has anything to do with it?"

The girl didn't feel irritated when Ranma didn't answer. As she'd suspected, he was too far away to hear her…

Either that or he wasn't listening.

--- TT ---

Author's note: I died… yeah, I know…. It sucks but thing like this happens, okay? It's not like I can help it.

What? You're still confused? I was living a life of summer holiday luxury… lazing around all day, doing nothing but typing and updating day after day… then I died…

Now I've reborn as a college student. Living in a foreign land and by myself in an apartment, doing a pre-Med course that requires me to get ninety percent average in four subjects and eighty percent or higher in English…

…but enough about that; how did you like the first chapter? Did it live up to your expectation? Do you have many unanswered questions? Well you should… I will, of course, answer them all eventually…I think…

For those who're worrying about me quoting so much of the prologue… don't be, it wouldn't be anywhere near this bad in the next chapters….

Anyway, review please… it would make me ever so giddy…

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi (R, the Red Poppy!)

--- TT ---

p.s. Where did the book came from I wonder? Could be it…. Nah, that would be crazy… where did you think the book came from? Come on hazard a guess… it would be our little competition, if you guess right… you can have your name mentioned in the story… a cameo if you will…

--- TT ---


	10. C1 These

--- TT ---

'**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

First Component: Chapter Two: These

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not mine anymore than there a bio-prac waiting to be written and handed in by tomorrow on my desk…

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

--- TT ---

"_Please help me Mister, there's monster chasing me…" A girl cried loudly as she run headlong into a man in straw hat. "It looks like a…" _

_He slowly turned around. In the pale moonlight, all the features of his face had been obscured; the only thing that remains was a hint of a smile. The man slowly raised his head and quietly finished the sentence for her._

"BLAHHHH!!!!"

"Eeepppp!!!!" The shorted haired girl cried out in fright, jumping almost two feet into the air. She spun around and chucked the pillow she'd been clutching at Ranma. The smirking pig tailed boy was standing behind her with his hands raised up, forming a pseudo loud speaker in front of his mouth.

"Baka! How many times have I told you to stop scarring me like that?" Akane grumbled, taking a half-hearted swing at her fiancée, trying to get that stupid grin off his face.

Ranma dodged it easily, smirking even harder than before. He leant forward, baiting her with his infuriating smile, egging her on.

God he loved teasing her like that.

It had been a year since the incident with Saffron in the Phoenix Mountain and things had been so different lately. The daily fights had died down to weekly, then to every fortnight until it was nothing more than a monthly occurrence, and even then it was nothing like it had been before. They would exchange well-used insults and mirthful banters for a while before sitting down to catch up with each other… as if it was a reunion of old friends.

But then that too eventually stopped.

No, it wasn't like they're had a huge fight and everyone just stopped talking to each other, it was like they all grew up… and grew apart…

Everything sort of drifted along… slowly Shampoo stopped being 'that violent Amazon chick' and became just that flirtatious delivery girl your girlfriend get annoyed at when you ordered from too often.

And it sucks.

Though he may never admit it out loud, those were the best days of his life… the kidnapping princes, the wandering ghosts and exocentric martial arts… the chaos… he loved every single moment of it.

Sure he grumbled and he complained, bemoaning how unfair it all was, but… now that it's gone… he missed it.

…

Hm… Akane was being oddly quiet today.

"What? No chasing me around with the Kendo stick this time?" Ranma said to the short haired girl who seemed quite intent on ignoring him. "Why are watching these junks anyway? You always get scared afterward."

…

"Fine…just don't come running into my bed like last time…" The boy commented off-handedly before he started turning away.

A cushion hit him squarely in the face.

"Idiot! There actually WAS a ghost that time, remember?" Akane said turning around to glare at him. She indicated with her hand, a big, fat and round-ish shape. "The massive white cat-phantom… rings any bell?"

Normally the pig tailed boy would've groaned at such horrid pun… but he was still a little bit bothered by the C word. That dastardly thing… if it was any old phantom, he'd creamed it easy but nooooooo, it has to be the one thing he was …uncomfortable… with.

"Can we not talk about the stupid animal?" Ranma grumbled.

…

"…sorry."

Sorry? He didn't want her to be sorry. He wanted her to be angry… to smack him or something like she used to do…he didn't want their last time with each to be like this…quiet, uncomfortable and… different.

He wanted …longevity… He wanted something, a sign maybe anything… anything to tell him that things would always be the same… that she'd wait for him…

"So…have you finished packing?"

Packing? Ah yes, that's why he was cleaning his room in the first place. The reason for his anxiety… the reason for all this apprehensiveness between them…

He was moving away.

And so was she.

It was no surprise really; he _knew_ that one day they're going to a university and that they can't stay at the Tendo dojo forever. But deep down, he'd always believe that they would someone ended up together. Well, maybe not staying together, but at least in the same university.

But that wasn't what happened.

Akane's leaving for a boarding college which specialized in drama. It turns out her dream of playing Juliet in the Shakespearian play was part of something bigger. It was a start of what could possibly be her future career.

Akane Tendo, an actress… can you believe it? The same Akane who used to beat up dozens of boys every morning before school, the same Akane who used to break mountains of brick as a form a stress relief… the same uncute Tomboy we all knew and loved.

And she's leaving.

And what's more, he's leaving too.

Of course, Mr. Tendo insisted otherwise, saying that he was more than welcomed to stay. But how could he? Without Akane here, he couldn't really see the point of him staying here and free-loading any longer. Beside, he going to a college to, a different one… one that has a sport scholar ship

And… and… he could see it now…after all the things they've been through together… it was all falling apart… _they_ are falling apart.

…

"Well? Have you packed or not?" Akane asked again, this time with a hint of anger. That brought the boy out of his reverie.

"No."

"Would you like me to help?"

'And have all my things mangled up and disorganized? Thanks but no thanks.' Ranma thought. 'I'd probably finish it faster doing by myself anyway.'

But that wasn't what came out of his mouth.

"Yeah sure."

Akane turned around and grabbed the remote from the top of dinner table. She switched the television off and stood up before giving him a smile.

That smile… she's so cute when she smiles.

"Well let's go. We can't be up all night; tomorrow is a big day for both of us, remember?"

Yes, how could he not remember, tomorrow would be the last day he'd be seeing that smile for a long, long while…. maybe even forever if she'd forgotten about him by the time he return…

Maybe forever…

"Well?" She asked again.

"Yeah…" Ranma replied, muttering under his breath before getting up as well. They followed each other upstairs, walking in silence before both of them were afraid of bringing up a certain subject… a subject that had been the only thing on their minds for days…

Tomorrow… and what it brings…

Before he knew it they were both standing outside his room. Well, to be more precise it was the room the pig tailed boy and his father shared but he hadn't the desire to make the distinction right then. He was more concern about …other things.

Akane unceremoniously slid opened the door and stepped inside. She took in the sight of the room and turned around with a huge scowl adorning her pretty face.

"Ranma!" She growled, pointing at the object of her ire, IT. It being a massive pile of random junks which was basically what he'd accomplished when he started 'packing' that afternoon.

"You called that packing?" The youngest Tendo asked in disbelief, gesturing at the empty room and the single mountainous mound in the corner. She walked into the room while berating the pig tailed boy over her shoulder. "Ranma, throwing all your stuff into one massive pile isn't packing!"

"Hey, I just did that so I can sort out the stuff I'm taking from the junks I've collected over the years." Ranma said defensively. So what if he was so caught up with reading that stupid book that he'd forgotten all about pack? She didn't need to know that.

"Junk, not junk, junk, junk… what the heck is this?!?! ..oh, never mind… junk…junk"

Ranma blinked a couple of time to reacquaint himself with reality. Akane was going through his possession like they were trash… throwing them to one side or another almost indiscriminately.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing, you uncute tomboy?!" The boy cried out, rushing to his fiancée to stop her from messing up any more his stuff. He reached out with his hand only to have it slapped away. Akane started putting the stuff she sorted from the pile into his camping bag turned traveling bag.

"Helping you pack?" She asked sardonically, shoving more items into the bag without looking at what she was doing to them.

"All these stuffs ain't gonna fit in there if you're just throwing them in like that." Ranma told her, picking up the large and somewhat tattered looking bag and held it upside down, causing everything Akane just put in to come tumbling out.

"Here…" The boy said picking up a particularly thick and heavy looking book and showed it to her. It was the complete chronicle of shogun-age warring period entitled 'The Scars of Tokugawa Bakufu'. Personally, he wasn't particularly fond of its five hundreds something pages of tediousness but one of his teachers had been insistent. 'Forget not our past mistake, lest we repeat them' or something like that.

"The heavy stuff goes in first so it doesn't crush the lighter things." Ranma told the short haired girl, showing her how to go about packing sensibly. "See?"

Akane nodded. She looked around critically for something to put in next and starting to do just that. The pair smiled at each other and began working in earnest, both forgetting the troublesome times they undoubtedly had coming to them in the future.

Ranma shook his head; everything had been for too melancholy, even by his standard. It was probably best not to think too much about things.

With that thought, Ranma Saotome began to pack his bag.

He was leaving tomorrow.

And for once since the he'd decided to leave the Tendo dojo, he did not think about how odd it was to see Akane getting along with him… he was quite content with just leaving things the way they were.

…

"Ranma…" Akane called out quietly from the opposite side of the slowly disappearing pile.

"Hmm?" The said boy replied absentmindedly; he was absorbed in his thought as well busy packing.

"What's this?" The girl asked, showing him the small black book she'd just found. "Not one of those perverted novels like the ones your friends Daisuke and Hiroshi talk about I hope?" She said teasingly, waving the journal at the pig tailed boy.

Ranma looked up from scroll containing some martial art techniques he was folding up. He turned to her to see what she was talking about. And that was when he saw _it_.

It being that strange diary named _Finding Alice_ he'd found earlier that day.

Ranma mentally gulped as he watched her opened the book and looked into it.

"…what are you doing with this?" She asked him.

…

"Oh that…I just found it today… donno where it came from though…" The martial artist said casually, faking disinterest before turning his attention back to packing. "I was going throw it in the trash…"

"Ra-n ma! For a guy who's a girl half the time, you sure haven't got anything resembling a feminine mind-set."

"…em… thank you?" Ranma said uncertainly, not quite sure how to take that one.

"That wasn't a complement you idiot… eh… never mind." Akane said, growling a bit in frustration before ended up sighing in resignation. He's so dense sometimes, even good insults seems to fell short on the likes of him.

"What I mean is, this book is probably important to someone and it's not right if we just leave it lying around here like this. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"…No." Ranma said honestly after a few seconds.

"… you are _so_ insensitive it's not even funny anymore…" Akane deadpanned, giving her fiancée a flat stare. "Really, I don't even know why I put up with you. I mean you're irresponsible, thoughtless, tactless, completely unromantic and almost as arrogant as Kuno."

"Must be love." The boy said cheekily, flashing Akane his signature smirk.

The little black book hit him squarely on his nose.

"Offpt" Ranma cried out before he fell onto his back. It was weird how he managed to take punch after punch from the likes of Ryoga but still got nailed by a single book. Speaking of a book, where did that stupid thing go?

Smack.

Physic 101, all that goes up must comes down… He won't be starting university until tomorrow but he's learning already… Amazing…

Akane began to giggle.

"Dat didn't eurt." He grumbled through a mouthful of papers. Damn that hit him right on the nose.

"Now you even _sound_ like Kuno." Akane added, laughing even harder than before.

"…that was uncalled for…" Ranma protested sulkily after picking the book off his face and sat up. The short haired girl had stood up and was already at the door.

"Oh you'll live you big whiner." She told him, smiling brightly now. "Look, I'm going to go to bed now; hurry up and pack won't you? You don't want to oversleep and miss the early train now do you?"

She gave him one last radiant smile before stepping through the door. She placed a hand on the sliding door and slowly pulled it close.

"Akane!" Ranma called out suddenly.

The door slid opened.

"Yes?"

An irritate twitch… a raised eyebrow.

"We're okay aren't we?"

Two hopeful eyes… a million dollar question.

"…yeah."

--- TT ---

Author's note:

Heya people! How was that? I know it's been ages but the last two weeks had been crazy… absolutely crazy. I had Biology exam, Maths exam, English exam and Physic exam… all in the space of two weeks!?!?!

Enough about that now… time for a good new. Starting tomorrow, I have a two weeks holiday! Yatta! Me plus Holiday plus Finding Alice… you know what that means…

That's right, daily updates baby!

Oh and please review, any criticism are welcomed.

Rayne

--- TT ---

p.s. A lot of stuffs that has happened from the end of the series to this point will be elaborated later… you guys should know that by now anyway.

Oh, on our little competition… no one got it right but one man did came really close… he'd be stared as a cameo in the fic… sometime in one of the future chapter.


	11. C1 Moments

--- TT ---

**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

First Component: Chapter Three: Moments

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not mine anymore than there's a brand spanking new house just for me waiting in the suburb! The papers sucked but it was well worth it.

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

Note: Please wait nine and a half months after reading previous chapter before reading this one.

--- TT ---

"Sometime, somewhere, something in life will make you stop and ask yourself; 'Do I know where I'm going?' and sometime the answer you get may not the one you were hoping for. But that's not the scary part. The scary part is you knowing full well what you going to have to do next. " Me: graduation's speech.

--- TT ---

_It was a cold November – well, as cold as any other November really, but what makes it this one's particularly noticeable was that there was no one around to complain about it too._

_Akane Tendo, the first year Drama and Performing Art major, was sitting by herself on the wooden floor of her father's dojo pondering things normal nineteen years old like her usually ponders._

_Yes, she was thinking about her boyfriend – or rather, her fiancé Ranma Saotome. Or even more precisely, she was thinking about her promise with him; the one they have together just before they both separated for their university._

"_Ranma," the shorthaired girl intoned softly to herself. "Can you still remember me? …Us? Do you still feel the same, even after all these times?"_

_Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a trio of soft knocks ringing from the dojo's door._

_Akane swiveled around to face the door. "Come on in," she called out, still not getting up. It was most likely just her older sister, Kasumi, telling her that dinner was ready anyway._

_The door creaked a little as it slit open. However to the young lady's surprise it was not Kasumi at all. It was Ranma, her fiancé Ranma._

_Her heart jumped to her throat. She opened her mouth to say something but no word came out._

_Hot damn! The boy- no, the man was… HOT! Seriously hot. And his physique…he used to be well-built before but now it is just ridiculous. And those dreamy blue eyes… wow, it…_

_Ranma gave her his ever-so-annoying smirk upon noticing her speechlessness. Of course it made Akane clamped her mouth shut straight away. She never wants him to see her gaping at him like some crazed fan girl._

"_Ranma," Akane offered formally, looking him in the eyes. "You look well. And a university student, who would've thought you'd actually pull through."_

"_Who knows, not me that's for sure," Ranma said easily, before chuckling a little. His laughter died and he looked at her once again, but with softer yet harder eyes this time. "What about you Akane? How have you been?"_

"_Can't complain, I supposed. University's life is much quieter than what here used to be that's for sure," the shorthaired girl answered in reply. "No thanks to you," she added cheekily, giving him a similar smirk to the one he has given her earlier._

"_Yeah well, I did have to live up to my namesake after all, didn't I?" the pigtailed boy replied offhandedly._

"_Did? Ranma Saotome, are you trying to tell me that you've been leading a – dare I say it – uneventful college life?" she asked, half kidding and half serious._

"_Well," he began, sounding slightly nervous for some reason – as if he was making a confession or some such. "I wouldn't say uneventful but yeah, I picked up no extra fiancées and/or nemesis for almost a year – that's gotta count for something right?"_

_Akane's face lit up even more at those words. She beamed at Ranma, who was giving her an imploring look, and stepped closer to him. She lightly wrapped her arms around him and leaned close, bringing her mouth right next to his ear._

"_Of course it counts for something – it counts for a heck of a lot," she whispered before pulling back and giving him a chaste but emotional kiss. "Welcome home Ranma; we've missed you – I, have missed you."_

…

"Ranma Saotome! Stop day dreaming!!!"

Ranma Saotome, currently a girl, blinked rapidly in surprise as she took in her surrounding. She was in a small and homely café which looked kind of deserted. She blinked one more time before turning around to face the person whose yell snapped her out of her reverie.

"I wasn't daydreaming, Kurumi-chan – I just have a couple of things on my mind," the pigtailed girl protested indignantly. She was a good with friend with Kurumi but that did not mean she could get away with woolgathering while on the job.

"Yeah yeah, Ranma-chan, whatever you say," the older girl waved off Ranma's excuse. "I was just telling you that since it's kind of slow today, why don't you take off early? I hear you're going back home today."

"Really? You sure you don't mind closing up by yourself?"

"Course I'm sure, beside I'm sure Keta and Kota wouldn't mind giving me a hand or two, right?" Kurumi said, turning to her two younger brothers who were scoffing down the stir-fry Ranma has made earlier. The twin baulked at the prospect of being roped into helping clean up.

"Ahm, I gotta go…" Keta blurted out, his eyes wandered about, looking for anything he could use as an excuse.

"…feed Milk, yeah. So busy, no time for clean up," Kota finished his twin's sentence. They both turned to stare at each other with the same thought in their minds: you only need one person to feed a cat.

"Said it first!!!" Kota yelled, rushing over to the startled cat.

"Na ah! It was my idea!" Keta roared back as he chased his twin to the now quite frightened, brown-white striped Maine Coon.

Ranma stifled back a giggle; poor Milk, he had no chance. Served him right, the silly thing always pops up unannounced behind her despite the fact that she made it clear that cats still scare the bejezzus out of her.

"As you can see, we have everything under control here," Kurumi said with amusement.

"So just go ahead and get yourself ready for your homecoming. I'm sure there you have a score of local hunks all lined up waiting for you," she added with a toothy grin. "I want to hear all the saucy details when you come back. So don't disappoint, okay?"

Ranma gave the blond girl (Pure Japanese too – and people say _she_ has odd colored hair.) a mock glare but was promptly ushered out of the café's stall for her trouble.

"Kurumi, that girl's far too… ahh! What's the world? Overbearing? Really, in the short time that I've known her, she has had me subjugated her pet project," the part time girl grumbled, stripping off her apron as she walked into the back room to get change. She peeled off the café's mini-dress and stepped into her much more comforting pair of baggy jeans.

"I mean, I've only been working here for a few months and so far she has tried to set me up on one… two… three," Ranma stopped changing half way – standing there clad with only her jeans and sport bra - and began counting off with her fingers. "…four dates! Four! Even when I made it perfectly clear that I could get along just fine without a boyfriend…"

Still… the over-bearing Kurumi has wormed herself into Ranma's heart and now she could not for the life of her, imagine the blond haired young in any way.

…

The pigtailed girl suddenly shook her head. She had better be going if she wanted to make it in time for the five o'clock train. She still has to go to her apartment to change and return her room.

Ranma sighed; she still has not found a room for next year yet. 'Oh well, it can wait until next year,' she supposed.

--- TT ---

'It's five-forty – that gives me just enough time to wash up before dinner,' Ranma noted, looking up from his watch to resume staring out the window. It was what he has been doing for the past half an hour as he rode the South-bound, Etefuka train back to Nerima, the only place he has ever called home.

It will not be long now. The concrete jungle that is Tokyo was thinning at an observable rate. Still, he could not wait to get home. It has been too long.

Nine and a half month…

That is thirty-eight weeks… or two hundreds and sixty-six days… or six thousands, three hundreds and eighty-four hours… or three hundred and eighty-three thousands and forty minutes… or twenty-two millions, nine hundred and eighty-two thousands and four hundreds seconds…

To say it has been a long time coming would be an understatement. It was _long_ by anyone standard.

And what more, was how much he missed _her_. He missed her so much that it made all those gargantuan numbers seemed small by comparison. He missed her so much he could not even begin to describe what he was feeling with words. And that is not because he was not good with them either – no, Ranma Saotome has changed in that regard. A year of university level literature has saw to it he could spend more than a few pages describing someone he knows.

Yet after all of that, he could not describe how much he missed her.

_ Meguro! Next station is Meguro! Passengers heading for Nerima, Noudate and Endou please change train here for local service. Thank you for traveling with JR, we wish you a pleasant day. _

'I'm here…' Ranma noted to himself as he stood up. He leaned down, pulled his luggage, a massive backpack, out from under his seat and shouldered it before walking over to join a line of other passengers crowding at the door getting ready to disembark.

The electric door parted with a dull ping and the pigtail man followed the crowd out onto the platform. The desolated feel of the platform surprised him a little. After almost a year of metropolitan commuting, his experience of train platform was something along the line of 'get on, get off or get lost' – so anything less than a sea of people was a sight he did not expected to see.

Ranma took in a huge breath of fresh air as he took a look around. The place seems familiar yet so unfamiliar at the same time. The minimalist-style buildings, the pleasant dull grey coloring… he missed this.

'This feels different,' He noted as he walked down the front steps of the station. He smiled at the old man minding the noodle stand who smiled back fondly. He shifted the straps on his shoulders and started down the street with a hint of spring in his steps. A silly grinned was pasted on his face but for some unfathomable reason he was sure no one would mine.

This feeling, whatever it was, he was sure he had never felt it before.

**It felt good.**

He broke into a run; he really could not wait to get home.

…

As minutes flew by he began to recognize more and more of his surrounding. The shops and stands were giving him a sense of déjà vu. Even a passing old lady gave him a knowing smile and a nagging feeling of a name he could not place. He turned into a familiar looking corner and slowed down to a slow amble.

There it was! The Furinkan High! Darn, coming back here was really nostalgic; he could almost hear the eccentric principle with a bad case of Hawaiian complex telling him off for being a bad _'kahuna'_ in his horribly thick accent.

Ranma smiled fondly at the recollection. God, those were some crazy days.

The pigtailed boy shook his head, smiling sardonically at the thought. Most of them were not his fault but some… well, let just say he was a lot less mature back then.

Still…he really should come back here when it is day time. Miss Ninomiya would zinger him good for not writing her a single letter, but he was quite sure he would live. He was catching up with her would be worth it.

He smirked at the idea of telling her who got the High-Achiever's Price for his year. She would have kittens.

_Beep!_

Ranma glanced down at his watch. It was six already! He better save all this reminiscing stuff for tomorrow, otherwise he was going to miss dinner!

With that thought in mind, he took off toward the Tendo's Dojo at a sprint.

…

Half a minute later he arrived at the front of the compound. He was not even breathing hard – being in a much better shape even than he had left. He fixed an easy-going grin (AKA his patented Lady-killer's Smile) onto his face and rapped the door pithily three times.

Silence.

Then there was a quiet shuffling of someone putting on his/her shoes and the door knobs began to turn. He smiled in anticipation. It could possible, hopefully, be Akane but it was probably Kasumi though. Nevertheless, it would still be great to see the homely girl once again. He has missed her much more than he had expected. Maybe it was because of the university's food. Maybe.

'Of course, it can't possible be Nabiki,' he thought as the door swung open. 'The girl never opens the door.'

But to his surprise, it was neither Kasumi nor Akane or Nabiki who was standing behind the door.

It was a young man who looked to be around Ranma's age. He was slightly shorter than Ranma but was not short by any mean. He has a cropped brown hair that kind of handsome in a gentlemanly sort of way. He also appeared to be quite fit – not quite up to pigtailed boy standard but he was certainly no slouch.

"Hey, you must be Ranma! Akane-chan has told me lots about you," he greeted Ranma with a smile, holding out his hand for him to shake. "I'm Akane's boyfriend Satoshi Kousuke."

--- TT ---

Author's note:

Hey ya'll. How's everybody? I know it's been forever, but trust me, the wait feels even longer to me than it was for you.

So why the waits? Well, as you may or may not notice, the period between this chapter and the last is exactly the same about of time as how long it has been in the story. Realism? No, I've just been too busy. Really. Trust me - I would not wait this long just to get the effect.

Anyway, please review. It would make me feel oh-so-appreciated.

--- TT ---

p.s. How many of you actually thought that I would pair Ranma up with Akane? Really now, I'm quite curious.


	12. C1 Answers

--- TT ---

**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

First Component: Chapter Four: Answers

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not mine anymore than there're over hundreds unopened microwaves stacked up in neat little towers ext to my bed… damn …

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

--- TT ---

First step is always denial.

It is why we invented the pinching of our cheeks: so we can truly shatter any slightest possible chance that what is happening could be a dream. So we can push ourselves pass that imaginary point-of-no-return. So we can be ready; ready to face the challenges ahead… the trouble we must overcome… the decisions we must make…

Or the facts we have to accept.

However, while that looks fine and dandy in writing, it is not so in practice.

We _never_ want to accept the truth, we _never_ want to move on and we certainly never want to admit defeat.

That, my friend, is why the first step is always denial.

--- TT ---

Ranma's smile took a bit of effort to hold on to its shape.

'Calm down,' the boy said to himself. 'There are a thousand reasons why this prick just said that to him. He could be a friend of Akane who was jerking his chain or… or…'

He failed to come up with any more reason. But then… it was a mood point anyway. Your first assumption is almost always right – it is a well-known fact.

"Hello Satoshi-san," Ranma said aloud before choosing to bow in lieu of taking the pre-offered hand. "I'm Saotome Ranma, Akane's fiancé. But of course, I'm sure you already know that."

The pigtailed boy righted himself rather quickly. He was hoping to see the man's reaction to his claim. He caught it but it was not what he was expecting.

Satoshi _smiled._

He gave Ranma an enigmatic, I-know-something-you-don't smile; the exact same smile that made paintings like 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Baptism of Saint John'so controversial. It was the kind of smile that was neither cold nor warm but an odd amalgamation of both.

"So I've heard. Anyway, we will have plenty of time to talk later, so…" he said, pulling the door open a little more as he stepped to the aside to allow Ranma in. "Come on in, we were about to start dinner without you."

Ranma gave him another searching look before stepping through the door. After placing his luggage on the landing, he removed his shoes and grabbed a pair of slippers from the rack.

"Well, come on then," the self-proclaimed boyfriend of Akane told him after noticing that he was done.

Ranma gave the other man a cursory nod and followed him into the dining area.

"Who was it, Satoshi-kun?" a familiar voice greeted them as they walked through the opened door. Ranma smiled as his anxiety seemed to wash away with the sound of _her _voice. He opened his mouth to call out a greeting but was beaten to the punch by Satoshi who was standing in front of him.

"I'm pretty sure it's your estranged fiancé, Akane – unless the postmen around here have really odd sense of humor," he joked, stepping aside to let the others see the pigtailed man.

It also allowed Ranma to see the others as well. And there they all were; Nabiki still sporting that striking bob and the same lascivious smile, Kasumi in her ever-present apron and long pony-tailed hair, his father and Mr. Tendo in their patch-works ridden _gi_, and Akane…

Akane was… indescribable.

After blinking twice, his brain still could not register the sight. She was _different_. Gone was the cropped, shoulder length hair – it was replaced with a long, flowing, silky mane that glinted ever so often in the dusk's red array. Her face was as beautiful as ever – except now it was brushed with a hint of alluring womanhood, making her that much more attractive than before. And as to her body…

Let's just say lil Akane grew up and she filled out.

"Ranma! Long time no see! You look well," she gushed as she stood up to greet him. She stepped forward, as if she wanted to take a closer look at him. "So, how have you been?"

**Pretty effing awesome actually; after all, I've been looking forward to this day for the last nine and a half month. Oh wait… there is that one thing. If you can just explain to your friend Satoshi here that his joke ain't funny, then I can finally start breathing again…**

Ranma swallowed a mouthful of saliva and coughed a little as he was also trying to say something at that same time as well.

"Ah, ahm, can't complain I suppose. University's life is very different and it took some getting use to," he finally managed to say after a few ahm and ah.

"That's nice," Akane said, trailing off as she noticed the stares they were getting from around the table. She blinked twice, looking as if she has just remembered something. "Eh, you wait here; I'll go get you a bowl. We were just about to start dinner you see," she said, stepping pass him and headed for the kitchen.

Ranma smiled and began walking over to the table.

**That was awfully nice of her… hang on, I'm forgetting something… oh crap.**

"Nah, it's cool. I know where it is, I'll just go get it myself," Ranma called out as he followed her into the kitchen. Akane, all alone in a kitchen? Kasumi's kitchen?! Not good, not good at all.

"Really, it's alright…" he protested weakly as he stepped around the corner and into the kitchen – or what would be left of it after Typhoon Akane.

"There you go," the longhaired girl said, handing him an empty bowl and a pair of chopsticks after popping up suddenly from the side.

Ranma stood there, blinking stupidly as he stared at the objects in his hand.

"Come on Ranma," Akane called out from the door leading back into the living room. "Or we will really start without you this time."

The two of them returned to the table. It seemed that Kasumi has pulled up an extra chair for Ranma while they went to get the bowl. Ranma sat his bowl and took his seat. He was placed between his old man and Satoshi – not exactly what he was hoping for but now was not the time to make a hassle.

"Say Saotome, do you know that it cost about five thousand yen for a doctor visit? No? Well, be sure to keep that in mind. Because when I get a stomachache from not eating on time, I'll be holding the guilty party fully responsible, and I'll certainly be asking for reimbursements," Nabiki uttered her first thinly veiled treat of the evening. She flashed him a toothed grin before digging in.

"Whatever you say Nabiki," Ranma said, answering her with a matching predatory smile. Then, for a briefest of moments, that smile changed into something genuinely pleasant, before disappearing entirely as he started eating.

"Nabiki-chan," Kasumi intoned reprovingly, giving her younger sister a slight frown.

"What Onee-chan? A girl got to look after her health you know. We can't all be young and beautiful forever," Nabiki quibbled, waving her chopsticks in a placating manner. She turned to Ranma and flashed him a friendlier grin than the one she had given him before. "Sides, you don't mind right, Saotome?"

He was too busy trying not at the exchange to give acquiescent but it did not look like she minded.

Kasumi resumed eating, looking a bit miffed when her sisterly advice was ignored.

'Good for her,' Ranma thought. It seemed that while he was away, the dainty homemaker has grown a personality of her own. He could not think of a person more deserving of an attitude of any kind.

"So Ranma, have you been keeping up with your training regime?" Genma suddenly asked, snapping his chopsticks forward at the same time in hope to catch Ranma off guard and steal his food.

"Yep, I never slack off Pop; you should know that by now," Ranma replied as he effortlessly parried the offending chopsticks with his own. He rolled his chopsticks playfully along his finger before launching retaliation. "You on the other hand…"

Genma's eyes widened in surprise as his deep-fried prawn suddenly jumped onto Ranma's plate. He raised his hands as a sign of submission. He smiled when half of the tempura was returned to him.

The message was simple: truce.

"I see you two haven't change," Nabiki commented dryly.

"Oh give them a break Onee-chan," Akane leaped to her fiancé's defense. "They haven't seen each other for nine months."

"Hey I wasn't saying anything," the older girl said, trying to justify herself. "I was merely remarking upon the oxymoronic nature of the term grown men."

"Touché," Ranma acknowledged absently mindedly as reached across the table for another piece of grilled fish.

"Just ignore her Ranma; she's grouchy because she didn't get promoted like she'd hoped," Akane told him in an overtly dramatic stage-whisper – with hand shield, oddly pitched voice and all.

"Well, you'd be pissed too if had my chauvinistic sexist pig of a supervisor as your boss," the bob-haired girl grouched, spearing one while fish and deposited it on her plate angrily.

"You really shouldn't, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi chastised. "I thought you said you're watching out for your health – what do you think that will do to those thighs of yours-"

"Kasumi!" Nabiki yelled half-heartedly at her older sister. She blushed brightly. "I'd appreciate if you don't make my _thighs_ the topic of our dinner conversation."

Ranma snorted, unable to hide his amusement this time around.

"I'm sure your sister is just teasing you Nabiki," Satoshi commented from Ranma's right. "However, if you _do_ want a second opinion…" he trailed off meaningfully, giving her an apprising look and an exaggeratedly conspiring wink.

"Watch who you're hitting on, you jerk," Akane said, smacking the shorthaired man upside the head. "That's my sister."

Ranma would have laughed at the boy's punishment had it not remind him so much of how Akane used to hit him when he makes comments like that. His festive mood died a sudden death as the similarity left him with an odd, painful knot forming in his stomach.

"Oh right," Akane said suddenly, smacking her hand onto her palm as if she has just recalled something. "I completely forgot I haven't introduced the two of you yet."

"It's okay Akane, you're pretty enough to be expected not to have anything substantial between your ears," Satoshi jibed. "We'll still love you. Honest."

"Quit it you moron," the longhaired girl spun around and punched him lightly on his shoulder. She turned back to regard Ranma with a smile and pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Satoshi. "Ranma, this is Satoshi Kousuke; he's a friend of mine from uni. Kousuke, this is Ranma, the fiancé I've told you about."

"Hello Ranma Saotome, pleasure to make you acquaintance," he said in an embellished tone, couple with excessive bowing. "Wow, it's a good think Akane-chan introduced us like this – otherwise we'd probably never thought of it – especially not during that time when I opened the door for you just now."

"Would you stop that already?" Akane repeated in an annoyed tone. She looked like she was ready to belt him again.

There were laughers all around. Even Ranma himself managed a few chuckles.

**Just a friend… but then why would he have said… forget it…**

…

The rest of the dinner continued in the same lighthearted note. Ranma shared how his time serving at the Cat's Café actually helped in getting a part time job. Akane told them about her stage production and all the grueling character works Kousuke and she had to endure. Rumor about Nabiki's mysterious new boyfriend was spread around when she left the table for a napkin. Ranma's boast about High-Achiever's Price for his year was faced with skepticism from Nabiki but Kasumi did give him a knowing smile. It seemed that nothing will ever surprise the unassuming girl after all.

The dinner was followed by desserts, which, though highly conventional for a Japanese meal, was also perfect. It seemed Kasumi has once again out done herself.

After dinner Ranma tried to help the sweet homemaker with the dishes but was promptly shooed out of the kitchen. Oh well, it seemed there are something that never change.

The Tendo patriarch and Genma started a game of _go_ and Nabiki was lying around in front of the television, watching a badly dubbed Korean drama. Akane appeared to be gossiping with Kasumi about something or another so Ranma excused himself and went out into the back garden for a breath of fresh air.

Ranma sighed as he strolled toward the carp pond. His alleged triumphant home-coming was nothing like he had imagined. Still, it was a very nice. Throughout the dinner he had been sneaking glances at Akane. He was pretty sure she caught him once or twice. If she did, she has done nothing to show it thus far.

Could it be that Akane as not interested in him as he was about her?

A cool November's breeze sudden swept by, causing the pigtailed youth to shiver slightly. It was probably time for him to go back inside. He started to turn around when he felt a warm hand touched his shoulder.

"Wha," he spun around in surprise. "Akane, what are you doing out here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she retorted evenly, rubbing her hands together to keep warm. "It's freezing out here."

"Wanna go inside then?" he suggested, beginning to get chills as well.

"Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about," she said in an odd tone, staring at him with a faraway look in her eyes. "Could you come with me to the dojo?"

"Sure," he answered, wondering what it was that she has to tell him in secret.

**Could it be… is she going to…**

'Get your mind out of the gutter, Ranma!' he thought, shaking his head and fell into steps with Akane as they made their way to the dojo. He opened his mouth to start a conversation but the nervous look on her face ward him off.

'What has she got to be nervous about... unless... no, no - it can't be!' he argued with himself, not daring to say any of it aloud. Even in the howling wind, his heart beats were clearly audible to him - and maybe to Akane.

He could not be right... could he?

**But still… wasn't he taught that your first assumption is almost always right?**

Ranma quietly thanked the freezing weather; it would not do for him to bleed all over the wooden floor on his first day back. What would Kasumi think?

--- TT ---

Author's note: Ohhh…sing along people! It's… Ranma and Akane sitting in the dojo, F-U-C-

_Rayne was promptly knocked unconscious by a flying, frying-pan_

Kasumi: Knock it off; this fic will stay T-rated while I'm starring in it.

Rayne: Yes Kasumi-san, sorry Kasumi-san.

--- TT ---

p.s. What?! Is it Akane / Ranma or what? Could you please make up your mind?! ...or have you all seen through my thinly veiled plot-twist? Hm, hm?


	13. C1 Deliverance

-- TT --

**Finding Alice'**, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

First Component: Chapter Five: Deliverance

Author's note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not mine anymore than there's a silly technical glitch on FFN which is preventing me from uploading my chapter… grr…

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you're in love, you can do anything…

-- TT --

It began to snow lightly.

He did not notice it at first because the flakes would melt just as it touched his skin, making it felt as it was just a thick mist. But then as it got harder he began to notice the tell-tale sign of fleeting white fluff drifting ever so slowly down from the sky.

Ranma smiled as he watched the creamy puffs fell. It looked like they would be having a white Christmas this year.

'Just like last year,' the pigtailed man noted, recalling the memory of his last Christmas here at the Tendo residence. Karaoke singing was not his strong suit - nor was getting on a stage dressed up as a woman for that matter – but it was still one of the most wonderful memories of his life.

Hopefully this year would be even better.

Ranma and Akane stopped in front of the dojo's door, having made their way from the main compound onto the snow-dusted stone path and to the smaller building. Akane gave him an annoyed, 'come on, hurry up' look and quickly went inside. He stared after her for a moment before slipping off his shoes and follow suit. The single light on the ceiling was already switched on; indicating that someone was already here in the dojo before the two of them has arrived. He cast his eyes about the dojo trying to find that person; just before he was half way through a voice called out to them from their right.

"Well, it's about time you got here Akane-chan; I thought my nose was going to freeze right off," Satoshi said to Akane, rubbing his hands together to keep warm.

"Serve you right. You deserve it from the way you're teasing me at the dinner table," Akane shot back, making her way passed Ranma and over to shorthaired boy.

"Don't be so vindictive, Akane-chan; it doesn't suit you," Satoshi replied with usual witting remark. "The long hair and martial art obsession is already a clash enough. A cute girl can't rightfully be a hard-assed bitch as well."

Akane pouted, he called her a hard-assed bitch but said she was cute in the same sentence – that was just not fair.

While the two were exchanging this light banter, someone was feeling more lost than Ryoga Hibiki himself. That someone was none other than our martial art extraordinaire protagonist, Ranma.

On the way back to Nerima he practically skipping with anticipation and excitement. After dinner he was feeling oddly disappointed and annoyed. Then he met up with Akane in the garden and was lead here in a cloud of suspenseful deliberation and conjecture.

Then he found out that this Satoshi guy has been here waiting. And now he did not know what to think.

Should he be surprise? Should he be confused and angry? He was feeling a pang of jealousy and betrayal – were these feelings justified? Should he yell out in pain and demand retribution? Or was he just being an insensitive, overbearing, presumptuous and disproportionately possessive _'baka'_ like she so often accused him of? Or was this all a 'bullshit' test – a paradoxical, convoluted, surprise pop-quiz which is supposed to test a man of his so-called true feeling. If so, should he then get jealous and proves that he was really in-love with her? Or should he acts cool and collect in order to show her that he can be understanding and emphatic to her needs for cross gender friendship? Or should he…

**Shut the hell up! Just shut the—**

"Ranma," a familiar voice, one that have been plaguing his dreams and daydreams for a long, long time, called out to him.

"Akane," Ranma said in reply, smiling ruefully at her. A briefest hint of confusion flashed across Akane's eyes. She muttered something which he could not quite make out before turning to Satoshi.

"Have you told him?" She cryptically asked her 'friend'.

"Yea, sorta," the shorthaired man said evasively – trying to pass it off as him simply being flippant about the whole thing, and not that he, too, was well aware of what was to come. "I mean, I hadn't really had the time, you know?"

"Baka…," Akane groaned in disgust.

"Told me what?" he said in an unreadable tone whilst chanting denials on the inside.

"Ranma," Akane began slowly, turning to him with a serious expression on her face. "Kousuke here isn't just my friend; he's also my boyfriend as well. We haven't told you earlier because we didn't want Dad and uncle Genma to hear about it and freak out."

Ranma could only nod; what else could he do? It probably makes sense - in a weird, convoluted sort of way that his mind could not clearly grasp right then and there.

Taking Ranma's nod as a sign of acquiescent, Akane simply ploughed on with her partially scripted speech.

"I'm not sure you'd notice but Dad and Uncle are still going on about their outdated dream of marrying the schools together – that's why we're keeping our relationship under wrap for the moment," she continued on, oblivious to the faraway look that Ranma had in his eyes.

"Now, I know we haven't actually discussed what we're going to do about our parents but I really don't think it's going to be a problem, right? I mean we will just go on living life however we want at the Uni and wait until we're both twenty-one before breaking the news to them."

"That sounds about right, right? Ranma, what do you think? Hm?" she concluded rapidly, still not meeting Ranma's eyes.

"Yea I guess…," Ranma replied plaintively. He offered Akane a weak laudatory smile, his mind filled with thoughts that were exact opposite that.

'What about us, Akane?' he wanted to say. 'What about our promise? Weren't we in-love – regardless of what our parents say?'

_Knock! Knock!_

The three youths turned their attention toward the dojo's door – who could it be? Soun? Genma?

Akane looked to Satoshi who nodded in respond before she walked over to open the door while Ranma still stood there in deep stupor.

"Oh it's just you," Akane commented, sounding somewhat relieved as she stepped out of the way to reveal a shivering Nabiki.

The crafty-looking young woman was standing there sporting a look of surprise when she saw the three of them. She trained her gaze back onto Ranma, her eyes widened in realization.

"So you've just told him?" Nabiki turned to Akane and asked, completely ignoring Akane's comment.

"Told him? Akane said in confusion. She stared at Nabiki for a moment before it finally came to her. "About Kousuke-kun? Oh yeah, I did."

"That's good," Nabiki said, nodding imperceptibly. "Then you and Ranma can come with me; Dad and uncle Genma are looking for the two of you."

"Alright," Akane replied. She shuffled into her shoes and turned around beckoning at Ranma to follow suit. "You're coming, Ranma?"

The pigtailed boy shook his head as if to clear it before stumbling after her numbly.

However – just as he was about to cross the landing out into the snowing outdoor – a pair of deceptively thin hands seized his arm and stopped him. He spun around only to find that it was Nabiki who grabbed him. She was staring into his eyes, studying him intensely with those calculating brown eyes of hers.

"No tears, no angry flushes…," Nabiki commented plaintively before giving him a incredulous look. "You're actually okay with this aren't you?"

Ranma was not. But then, it was probably a good idea for Nabiki to believe that he was so he decided against contradicting her and just stood there.

"You must've had tons of girls throwing themselves at your feet so I guess it's a bit silly to think you haven't move on from your small town sweetheart," Nabiki rationalized. She turned away, looking a little disappointed. She let go of Ranma's arm and padded after her sister without saying another word.

Some parts of Ranma wanted to try to rectify that misunderstanding but the foremost thing on his mind right then was Akane.

Ranma followed the two of them out, leaving Satoshi standing there alone in the training hall. He quickly made his way back to the house and entered the living room through the veranda.

"Ah Ranma, mah boy – what took you shoo long?" Genma slurred. He did not look bothered by the fact that he had to wait at all. It was probably because he was drunk.

Ranma shrugged.

"Well, you're here now shoo we can begin," Soun stated, sounding equally drunk as Genma.

"Right, right, I'll just get straight to thah point then," Genma said, gesturing widely, spilling sake from the bottle in his hand. "Now, I know we agree to let the two of you finish your education first before tying the knot but when we shaw how you danced around each other during dinner…,"

Ranma did not like that sneer his father had on his face.

"…well, let's just shay we couldn't help but feel a little hopeful, eh, Ranma-kun. Akane-chan," Soun finished for his old friend. They leant on each other, smiling and giggling like two crazed fools the whole time.

"Dad! Uncle! We're not even twenty yet – there's no need to hurry," Akane protested, blushing slightly at her parent's attic. "Besides', you're both drunk. Come on, Ranma, help me out here."

'Why? There's no need. You've done enough protesting for both of us,' Ranma thought spitefully.

"If that's all you wanted me for then I'm going to bed," he flatly told the two men before getting up.

That stopped them cold. They stared at each other in confusion.

"What's his problem?" Genma grumbled to Soun.

"Nathing…, the boy's probably tired or something," Soun said unworriedly. "He'll be right as rain by tomorrow – right, Akane-chan?"

"Yeah…," Akane said, nodding along slowly.

'What's gotten into him?' she wondered to herself.

Ranma stomped passed the kitchen and into the hallway. He made it to the base of the staircase when he bumped into Kasumi.

"Ranma-kun!" she uttered in surprised. She had to quickly lift the load of folded laundry to the side in order to avoid a collision with the pigtailed youth. She scowled – annoyed at having to use a split infinitive when Ranma should have known better. "Please watch where you're going."

Ranma offered her a curt little apology before continuing on up the stairs like nothing had happened.

Kasumi stared after him. She felt that something ominous was about to happen but could not quite put a finger on it.

Upstairs in the guest room, Ranma was lying on the futon feeling like the world was a hundred miles away. His thoughts kept circling around the same topic – a name that was like a quirky pop song that you sometime have stuck in your head.

Except the one he had would not go away.

**Nothing unless you do something about it.**

Ranma scowled. But really, what could he do? It was Akane choice was it not? He could not rightfully demand anything of her.

**But she's your fiancée.**

True. But then again it was only their parents' idea. An engagement that only existed in name was no more concrete a bond than that of a truce between two enemies.

**But you two were together for over two years!**

Yes, but two years of having to share him with half dozen other girls with similar engagements. It would hardly count if it ever did at all.

**But you love her and she l—**

"Enough!" Ranma said aloud. He got up in a huff and went to the door. His head was spinning. He needed air and a maybe a glass of water. He walked down the corridor heading for the stairs feeling listless and anxious. Just as he was about to walk passed Akane's room he spotted a small band of light coming from underneath the western style door.

'She's still awake?' he thought arbitrarily. Should he…?

"Thinking about confronting her, Ranma-kun?" someone said in a low voice from behind him.

Ranma froze. He had not been snuck on like that for almost a year. It spooked him a little. He spun around and relaxed when he saw that it was only Kasumi. Before he could deny or even say anything Kasumi had already continued speaking.

"Are you sure that's a wise decision?" she asked him in a serious tone. It sounded unlike anything that Ranma ever heard Kasumi used during his stay at the Tendo's. "Have you thought of what you're going to say?"

"I wasn't thinking—," he tried to say but was cut off once again by the longhaired girl.

"Exactly – you weren't thinking. Just like you won't be thinking when you walk in there half-cocked and confront my little sister about things she shouldn't have to deal with – not from you," Kasumi rebuffed austerely.

Ranma wanted to argue with her – after all, no one wants to be scold at – but his brain was still trying to process the thought of Kasumi Tendo telling him off. It just seemed unreal to him no matter how he looked at it.

"Did you know that I dated Dr. Tofu for about a month while you and Akane were away?" Kasumi said softly. The sudden change of topic caught Ranma off guard and he was still scrambling to catch up when she continued on talking.

"Yea…," she practically whispered. "It was what everyone was expecting. Apparently it was common knowledge that Ono has been carrying a torch for me for years. So that why no one was surprised when we started going out."

She sighed at the memory.

"He was kind, considerate and a perfect gentle in any situation whatsoever. Any situation except of course, the ones that concern me," she said, laughing bitterly. "Whenever I was with him he was a bumbling idiot. It was funny at first – adorable even. But it got old. I eventually couldn't stand it anymore and we stopped talking,"

Kasumi turned to Ranma and gave him a sad smile.

"And you know what I've learn from the whole thing, Ranma?"

The pigtailed martial artist shook his head slowly.

"I've learned that it's pointless to keep trying that when you know that what you're doing is futile. No matter how much you loved someone, if you couldn't be with him then it's doomed."

"I know you think you love her, Ranma," Kasumi told him seriously. "But you've had two years with her and it didn't work out. You two were engaged for crying out loud, and yet you've never gotten along. So think about it – can you really blame her for moving on? Can you, in all honestly, blame her for not pining after you years and years without any gratification like some love-sick schoolgirl? Can you?"

"…I don't know," Ranma said earnestly after a short moment of silence. "I really don't know."

Kasumi looked at the thoughtful and troubled boy with sympathy. It was a hard pill to swallow – _that_, she could account from her personal experience.

"Just think about what I said before you do anything, okay?" she told him before leaving him alone for the night.

Ranma watched her walked away with heavy heart.

'What should I do?' he asked himself silently, turning back to the wooden door-sign that said 'Akane'.

Before he could decide one way or another the door handle began to turn. Ranma nearly jumped out of his skin. He quickly jumped up and attached himself to the ceiling like a spider. His heart beat loudly, threatening to burst out of his chest.

And then he spotted _him _coming out of Akane's bedroom.

Him was none other than Satoshi Kousuke, Akane's boyfriend.

Ranma waited silently as he quietly closed the door and padded stealthily away. Only when he was completely out of sight did Ranma allowed himself to drop to the ground and started breathing.

He eyed the closed door once again before eventually he too walked away.

Somewhere out in the city, a distance bell began to sound, signaling the end of one day and the beginning of another.

-- TT --

Author's note: Sorry everybody for the delay. I'm doing a double degree course this year in Uni and it's a lot of hassle. Luckily I've managed to avoid any clash thus far but that didn't help all that much. Before I know it, it was already Easter break.

_Sigh_

That's life, huh?

-- TT --

p.s. By the way, a review would be nice. My new fic is kinda letting me down on the review department. I didn't expect a lot or anything but four is admittedly a bit disappointing for me.


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